1. What are the listing processes?

(1) Restructuring and establishment: Drafting the restructuring plan; employing intermediaries such as sponsors, accounting firms, asset appraisal agencies and law firms to study the feasibility of the plan, audit and appraise the assets of the enterprise to be restructured, sign the sponsors’ agreement and draft the articles of association and other corporate documents; setting up internal organizational structure; and establishing the company limited by shares by means of promotion.

(2) Due diligence and advising: Sponsors and other intermediaries conduct due diligence on the company, make problem diagnosis, provide professional training and guidance, familiarize the company with the necessary knowledge for listed companies, improve its organizational structure and internal management, standardize corporate conduct, define its business objectives and the purpose of the proceeds, rectify deficiencies according to listing requirements, prepare IPO application documents, and pass the inspection by local regulatory authority on their coaching activities.

(3) Submission of application: Enterprises and intermediaries prepare application documents according to the CSRC’s requirements. Sponsors conduct internal review and make recommendations to the CSRC. The CSRC will accept the application if it meets relevant conditions.

(4) Review of application documents: After acceptance of the application, the CSRC will conduct a preliminary review. It will also consult with the provincial governments, the National Development and Reform Commission (for listing on the ChiNext, there is no need for such consultation and the CSRC will only need to communicate with the province-level government on the share offer) and minister of commerce (for Sino-foreign joint ventures and foreign enterprises). Then the CSRC will provide its opinion to sponsors which will make arrangement for the issuer and intermediaries to respond to the opinion or remsedy any deficiencies. After that, pre-disclosure will be made and the application documents will finally be submitted for review to the CSRC public offer review committee. 

(5) Road show, book-building and pricing: The CSRC will grant approval to the application after it passes the review of the public offer review committee. Before the IPO, the company must perform the required disclosure obligations. Main Board listing candidates should publish the summary prospectus and IPO announcement in the newspapers designated by the CSRC. They should also publish the full prospectus and relevant documents on the websites designated by the CSRC. ChiNext listing candidates should publish the full prospectus and IPO announcement on the websites designated by the CSRC as well as on their corporate websites. Moreover, they should publish an IPO and ChiNext listing announcement in the newspapers designated by the CSRC, informing investors of such websites and how to access the relevant documents. Then the lead underwriters (securities firms) and issuers will conduct road show, promotion and book-building and determine the issue price based on book-building results.

(6) IPO and listing: The issuer will launch its IPO according to the method prescribed by the CSRC. Then it will apply to the stock exchange for listing, complete custody and registration procedures at the registration and settlement company, and get listed. After listing, the sponsor will be responsible for continuous supervision and guidance.

2. How long does it take?

The time that an enterprise takes from restructuring to listing varies depending on circumstances is around one year. Normally, the time for various stages is roughly as follows: approximately six months from corporate restructuring to the establishment of a company limited by shares; approximately three to four months for sponsors and other intermediaries to conduct due diligence and prepare applications; approximately three to four months from the CSRC review to public offering.