BEIJING, Feb. 20 -- The Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) officially launched the market-making trading business on its stock market on Monday.

A total of 13 market makers are to participate in the trading business on the bourse, involving 36 stocks, the BSE said.

The turnover of the trading business reached 24.76 million yuan (about 3.61 million U.S. dollars), and the combined turnover of participating stocks today rose 7.37 percent from the daily average last week.

The introduction of the market-making trading business to the bourse is conducive to reducing investors' transaction costs and boosting market liquidity and stability, according to the bourse.

The move was taken to promote market reform and innovation further, and to improve the market trading system, the BSE said earlier.

The BSE was launched on Nov. 15, 2021. By the end of last year, it had 171 listed companies and more than 5.26 million qualified investors.

The bourse is more inclusive for innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises as it has lower listing thresholds, diverse evaluation standards, and a shorter approval time.