The municipality's Over-The-Counter (OTC) equity bourse, launched in July 2010 in the city's Zhangjiang Innovation Park (ZIP), is expected to begin operations by September, according to a senior local official.

"We expect that the bourse will not only serve enterprises within Zhangjiang, but also thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region," said Ding Lei, executive vice-director of the administrative committee of ZIP, at a recent rebranding ceremony for the park, a State-level high-tech industrial zone in Shanghai.

The equity exchange, which will mainly serve non-listed companies in the Yangtze River Delta region, has a total registered capital of 80 million yuan ($12.4 million), with Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co taking a stake of 20 percent.

Analysts said the OTC will offer a financing channel for small and medium-sized high-tech start-ups, and further standardize their business operations for the future.