The changes in the A-share market capitalization map: "Innovation Content" reflects the rise of China's emerging industries

Vice President of the Guolian Minsheng Securities Research Institute, Bao Chengchao, stated that the increase in the proportion of overseas business, especially when gross profit surpasses revenue share, indicates that Chinese companies’ globalization has moved from simply “selling products” to a higher stage of “building brands,” “spreading networks,” and “deeply rooting,” which is an important sign of the enhancement of China’s economic and corporate global competitiveness.

Lifting: The dual pursuit of institutional dividends and industrial blueprints

The changes in the A-share market capitalization landscape are driven by the coordinated guidance of institutional reforms in the capital market and industrial policies.

In terms of capital market reform, the Sci-Tech Innovation Board was established in 2019 with a pilot registration system, the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) reform and pilot registration system followed in 2020, and the full registration system was officially implemented in 2023. A series of institutional innovations have broken the rigid requirement of profitability for traditional IPO reviews, greatly increasing the market’s tolerance for tech innovation companies.

Data shows that between 2020 and 2025, about 60% of A-share IPO financing will flow into strategic emerging industries such as information technology, high-end equipment, and biomedicine, with resource allocation in the capital market precisely matching the needs of the real economy transformation.

This release of institutional dividends has promoted cluster-style listings and growth of hard-tech companies.

Since the establishment of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in 2019, semiconductor, artificial intelligence, new energy, and other hard-tech companies have accelerated their listing on the capital market. After receiving funding, they have continued to increase R&D investment, achieving technological breakthroughs and a virtuous cycle of market value growth. By the end of 2025, the members of the “trillion-yuan market cap club” in A-shares will reach 165, including over 70 companies in strategic emerging industries, accounting for more than 40%, compared to fewer than 10 in 2016.

The rise of hard-tech companies in the capital market not only changes the structure of market capitalization but also reshapes the market’s valuation logic.

“At the same time, China’s industrial policy remains highly forward-looking. Since the internet era began around 2000, we have seized almost all opportunities arising from the rise of global emerging industries, which is a rare advantage,” said Li Xunlei.

Looking ahead: Leading China’s economic transformation with new quality

In the wave of China’s economic restructuring, the market capitalization landscape of A-shares is becoming a “barometer” of industrial upgrading.

As resource consumption, low-cost labor, and real estate-driven traditional models wane, high-end manufacturing industries such as electronics, communications, and new energy are accelerating their rise, becoming the core carriers of new quality productivity.

Kang Yi, Director of the National Bureau of Statistics, recently stated that by 2025, the national economy will continue to advance with new momentum and improved quality, achieving new results in high-quality development, and the main goals of economic and social development will be fully realized, marking a victorious conclusion to the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

Data shows that by 2025, the added value of large-scale equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing will grow by 9.2% and 9.4% respectively compared to the previous year; new energy vehicle production will surpass 16 million units, maintaining the top spot globally for 11 consecutive years; green products such as wind turbines and bio-based chemical fibers will see rapid growth, with the industry’s “green content” continuously increasing.

Digital product manufacturing also performs strongly, with added value increasing by 9.3% year-on-year, and key products like servers and industrial robots steadily expanding production, demonstrating a deep integration trend between the digital economy and the real economy.

Kang Yi said that in 2025, China’s R&D expenditure intensity will reach 2.8%, an increase of 0.11 percentage points over the previous year, surpassing the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) average for the first time. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China’s innovation index has entered the top 10 globally for the first time. Frontiers such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and brain-computer interfaces have seen frequent breakthroughs, with major scientific achievements emerging in succession.

While recognizing these achievements, we must also see the practical challenges faced by the tech industry.

For example: core technologies in some fields are still controlled by others; issues like “bottlenecks” in high-end chips and basic software have not been fundamentally resolved; some companies’ profit models are still unclear, and there is a time lag between R&D investment and commercialization returns; market enthusiasm for hard tech has also led to valuation bubbles in some areas. Balancing growth expectations with rational investment remains a challenge for market participants. Additionally, external uncertainties such as escalating geopolitical games and the restructuring of global tech supply chains pose long-term risks to industry chain security.

Industry insiders generally believe that as digital economy and real economy deepen integration, future industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and commercial space will likely generate a new wave of market value growth. The “tech weight” of A-shares will continue to rise, further aligning with the mature “tech + finance + energy” structure of U.S. stocks.

The significance of the changing market capitalization landscape goes far beyond the capital market itself. It reflects the evolution of China’s development philosophy: shifting from a focus on scale and speed to a dedication to innovation and the future.

For market participants, understanding this value transfer is not only about investment decisions but also about trying to read the pulse of new industry trends and the reshaping trajectory of core assets amid technological waves.