The establishment of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market) is a major reform initiative to implement the innovation-driven development strategy and the strategy of building a strong nation in science and technology, promote high-quality development, and support the construction of Shanghai as an international financial center and a hub for scientific and technological innovation. It is also an important arrangement to improve the foundational systems of the capital market, stimulate market vitality, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors. Under such market positioning, a crucial factor for the successful implementation and growth of the STAR Market is to play the "innovation card" effectively.

From the perspective of market function, the STAR Market should achieve deeper integration between the capital market and technological innovation. Technological innovation is characterized by high investment, long cycles, and high risks, making indirect financing and short-term financing often inadequate in this regard. Technological innovation relies on the guidance and catalysis of long-term capital. The capital market plays a vital role in promoting the integration of technology and capital, accelerating the formation and effective circulation of innovation capital. In recent years, China's capital market has made many explorations and efforts to enhance support for technological innovation, but due to various reasons, there are still gaps in the alignment between the two. Many promising innovative companies choose to list overseas, indicating significant room for improvement in this area. The establishment of the STAR Market provides greater potential to effectively address this issue. Addressing the shortcomings of the capital market in serving technological innovation is an important mission the STAR Market must undertake from the outset.

From the perspective of market development, the STAR Market should serve as a "testing ground" for reforming and innovating the foundational systems of the capital market. Regulatory authorities have clarified that the STAR Market represents an incremental reform of the capital market. This is highly significant. Incremental reforms can avoid impacting the vast existing market while allowing reforms to be piloted in a new environment, rapidly accumulating experience and thereby driving the continuous improvement of the capital market's foundational systems. Take the much-anticipated registration-based IPO system as an example—it has been discussed in the market for years. The decision to pilot this system on the STAR Market responds to market demand and is backed by solid legal foundations. Over the years, comprehensive and stringent regulation of the capital market in accordance with the law, along with corresponding institutional development, has created the necessary conditions for the pilot registration-based system. The pilot program follows strict standards and procedures, placing greater emphasis on the authenticity and completeness of information disclosure, the quality of listed companies, stimulating market vitality, and protecting investor rights at every stage, including application, review, registration, issuance, and trading. Piloting the registration-based system on the STAR Market can be seen as forging an innovative path for reform.

From the perspective of market ecology, the STAR Market should embody a more inclusive and balanced philosophy. The capital market is both a financing market and an investment market. Through differentiated arrangements in areas such as profitability and equity structure, the STAR Market will enhance its inclusiveness and adaptability for innovative enterprises. At the same time, investors must also be given due attention. In protecting investor rights, the STAR Market must strengthen suitability management for investors in terms of assets, investment experience, and risk tolerance, tailored to the characteristics of innovative enterprises, to guide rational participation. Additionally, new systems such as issuance, trading, delisting, and capital constraints on securities firms, along with supporting measures like the introduction of medium- to long-term capital, should ensure that new funds align with the progress of the pilot program. The goal is to achieve a balance between investment and financing, between primary and secondary markets, and between the interests of new and existing shareholders of companies, while fostering positive expectations in the existing market. By growing hand-in-hand with investors, the STAR Market will undoubtedly soar higher and go further.