From August 19 to 23, the 2026 World Robot Conference unfolded in Beijing under the theme "Human-Machine Symbiosis, Production and Demand Integration." During the event, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area joined forces with four major stock exchanges—the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Beijing Stock Exchange, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited—to launch the "Yiqiying" capital market special session. This initiative precisely interpreted the latest capital market reform policies, established a multi-party connection platform for government, industry, academia, research, and finance, and cleared the pathway for communication between tech innovators and the capital markets.

The convergence of the four major exchanges at this world-class industry event brought more than just policy briefing materials and roadshow slots—it delivered a full-spectrum capital cultivation plan covering the entire corporate lifecycle. According to reports, the event drew over 500 companies, provided one-on-one mentoring to more than 100 tech firms, and simultaneously activated the "Qunyan Plan" enterprise service platform, launched jointly by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. A robotics industry gathering has become the premier lens through which to observe how China's capital markets are empowering new quality productive forces.

Layered Development and Synergistic Collaboration: A Combined Strategy for Cultivation

What stands out most about the four major exchanges sharing the spotlight is not merely their collective presence, but the differentiated development pattern shaped by their distinct market positioning. Serving different types of tech enterprises at various growth stages, the exchanges each focus on their own strengths while complementing one another, forging a unified force to support new quality productive forces. Take the Beijing Stock Exchange, for instance, which primarily serves innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and aims to establish itself as the leading platform for these businesses. Wind data reveals that 338 companies are currently listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, with national-level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giant" firms accounting for over 40% of the total. Since the start of 2026, new listings on the exchange have represented half of all A-share IPOs.

During the conference, the Beijing Stock Exchange hosted a dedicated session for specialized and innovative enterprises, detailing the latest audit developments, the standardized cultivation functions of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, the "green channel" mechanism for review and listing across the third and fourth boards, and municipal-level special policies and business support measures. This approach moves services ahead of the listing process, delivering comprehensive guidance from NEEQ listing to Beijing Stock Exchange listing.

It is worth noting that while the market segments have distinct positions, they are not isolated from each other. For example, companies listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange can apply to transfer to the Science and Technology Innovation Board or the ChiNext board once they meet the requirements. "This mechanism offers enterprises the flexibility to choose their capital platform based on their own development pace, reflecting the organic interconnection of the multi-tiered capital market," noted Tian Lihui, a finance professor at Nankai University. In practice, more companies are finding the most suitable board by assessing their own technological attributes, growth stage, and financing needs. The Beijing Stock Exchange's focus on specialized and innovative firms, ChiNext's emphasis on high growth, the STAR Market's dedication to hard tech, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited's international outlook represent four parallel and complementary pathways, allowing tech enterprises of different stages and sizes to find their ideal capital entry point. This enables capital to flow precisely into every link of the innovation chain.

If differentiated development addresses the issue of precisely matching tech companies with the right financing destination, then the increasingly close collaboration between exchanges tackles the challenge of accelerating financing and extending reach. This year, the four major exchanges have deepened "resource interconnectivity," delivering substantive cooperation in cultivation platforms, data sharing, and cross-border financing. For instance, on July 17, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, had signed cooperation memoranda with the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. These agreements facilitate voluntary reporting of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect trading information by exchange participants engaged in proprietary trading, aligning with the management framework for programmatic trading of the mainland exchanges and further enhancing market regulation and deepening the interconnectivity mechanism. Differentiated development widens the entry points, while synergistic collaboration smooths the pathways—together, they form a coordinated strategy for the capital markets to support new quality productive forces. Through more precise market matching, smoother institutional connections, and more open cross-border linkages, the four major exchanges are channeling a steady stream of capital to the forefront of innovation, injecting lasting momentum into the growth of tech enterprises.

Sustained Effort and Long-Term Empowerment: Activating the "Perpetual Motion Machine" of Innovation

The capital markets' role in nurturing new quality productive forces goes far beyond a one-time listing event; it demands ongoing cultivation and sustained support that spans the entire corporate lifecycle. Currently, the four major exchanges are intensifying their focus on long-term enterprise development, building a comprehensive service framework that includes pre-listing cultivation, listing-phase empowerment, and post-listing sustainability. Through continuous capital support, institutional optimization, and resource connectivity, they aim to fuel the enduring innovation momentum of tech companies and solidify the foundation for new quality productive forces. "Hard tech industries are characterized by long R&D cycles, rapid technological iteration, substantial capital requirements, and persistent innovation demands. Completing a listing and securing initial financing represents only the starting point of technological innovation and industrial upgrading, not the finish line. Short-term policy briefings and one-off listing guidance are insufficient to match the long-term iteration and continuous innovation needs of hard tech companies," explained Cheng Fengzhao, a member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the China Association for Public Companies.

Against this backdrop, the four major exchanges are shifting their support focus toward long-term cultivation and sustained empowerment, leveraging their complementary market advantages to provide dynamic, ongoing capital support and industrial services for tech enterprises at various growth stages. During the World Robot Conference, for example, the Shanghai Stock Exchange emphasized resource integration, continuous financing, and industrial expansion capabilities for listed companies, offering courses on mergers and acquisitions, sci-tech bond practices, and industrial policy interpretation. It also hosted closed-door seminars on investment, financing, and commercialization to help enterprises complete the full chain from market listing to continuous innovation and development, truly normalizing and sustaining capital empowerment. In Cheng Fengzhao's view, this kind of ongoing, normalized capital empowerment precisely matches the innovation patterns of hard tech industries. It frees tech enterprises from short-term capital constraints, enabling them to focus on R&D and industrial innovation, ensuring that innovation momentum continues to evolve and capital works steadily over time—delivering lasting power for the cultivation of new quality productive forces.

In concrete industrial scenarios, this sustained empowerment is translating into practical support for overcoming the growth bottlenecks of hard tech. Guo Tao, deputy director of the China Electronic Commerce Expert Service Center, told reporters that the robotics industry exhibits typical characteristics of "heavy R&D investment, high manufacturing thresholds, and slow scenario validation." The continuous empowerment of the capital markets corresponds precisely to the complete growth chain of enterprises, from technological breakthroughs to global expansion. On the R&D front, stable listing proceeds support long-term, high-intensity investment, shortening the cycle of technology catch-up and iteration. On the capacity expansion front, capital facilitates the construction of intelligent production lines, overcoming the manufacturing bottleneck of "robots building robots" and driving down unit costs. On the application front, funding helps companies forge deep ties with downstream industries, accelerating the transition from laboratory prototypes to market-ready products. And on the global expansion front, sustained capital backing supports the establishment of overseas R&D centers and localized service networks, helping companies navigate geographic barriers and capture international markets.

A robotics conference has illuminated the deeper logic of how China's capital markets serve technological innovation: broadening financing access through complementary differentiation and safeguarding the entire growth journey through sustained empowerment. What the four major exchanges are jointly mapping out is not merely a capital solution for tech enterprises, but a sweeping industrial landscape where new quality productive forces thrive. As capital continues to surge into the hard tech sector, more "from 0 to 1" technological breakthroughs and "from 1 to N" industrial leaps are accelerating into reality.