BEIJING — The planned stock exchange in Beijing will firmly adhere to the role of serving innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the latest step of the country's capital market reform, according to an official statement.

The statement by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) came on Sept 2 after the country announced the decision to set up the stock exchange and build it into a primary platform serving innovation-oriented SMEs.

The stock exchange will play a different role in China's capital market compared with the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges while strengthening interconnectivity with the two stock exchanges, said the CSRC.

Institutions will be formed based on the characteristics of innovation-oriented SMEs, covering functions including issuance and listing, trading, delisting, and supervision, the commission said.

Work will be done to make the stock exchange play its role in linking multi-level capital markets and form the path of direct financing for SMEs.

The new stock market is expected to nurture a group of high-quality SMEs that are specialized and innovative, and foster a benign market ecosystem, according to the CSRC.