A celebration is held for the successful listing of Nantong Tongyi Aerospace Science and Technology on the prestigious NEEQ selected layer. [Photo/WeChat account: qdrmt0513]

Nantong Tongyi Aerospace Science and Technology Co Ltd became the first company in Qidong – a county-level city administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province – to be listed on Aug 16 on the prestigious "selected layer" of China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations, or NEEQ, also known as the new third board.

The NEEQ's selected layer program was introduced last year to make the exchange a feeder for the bigger national stock exchanges – to help create a financing channel for start-ups. Businesses already listed on the NEEQ apply to it for what brokers have dubbed a "mini-IPO", involving selling shares to new investors and joining the new "select tier".

Groups in the tier can at a later point on move to Shenzhen's ChiNext market or to Shanghai's STAR market – both bigger tech share hubs – offering far more opportunities to raise more funds, without the need of another IPO.

Founded in March 2008, Nantong Tongyi Aerospace Science and Technology is a manufacturer of military and civilian dual-use aviation products.

The company's main business covers research and development, production and sales of special military aviation products – as well as products made of new materials such as polyurethane and carbon fiber.

It currently owns 44 patents, including three invention patents and 41 for utility models.

The Qidong company publicly issued 7.4 million shares at an issue price of 8.5 yuan ($1.31) per share, raising funds of 62.9 million yuan. The funds will reportedly be mainly used to increase the company's polyurethane protective film production capacity, enhance core competitiveness and expand market share.

According to the latest statistics, Qidong has six companies listed at home or abroad, four NEEQ-listed companies, 54 companies listed on the Jiangsu Equity Exchange and six companies still going through listing process.