This file photo shows an exterior view of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in Shanghai, east China. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and China Securities Index Co., Ltd. announced on Wednesday that they will launch new indices on China's Nasdaq-style Science and Technology Innovation Board, known as the STAR market, on Jan. 20 to meet growing investor demand for richer tools representing market performance.

One of the indices to be launched is the STAR Market Composite Index, which consists of all eligible securities listed on the STAR market and aims to measure the overall market performance of the companies on the market.

Another index is the STAR Market Composite Price Return Index, which aims to measure the overall market price return performance of companies listed on the STAR market, with its constituents consistent with those of the Composite Index.

With the steady increase in the number of listed companies, investor demand for indices that represent the overall performance of companies listed on the market is growing, and the index system of the STAR market has become increasingly comprehensive over recent years, according to the SSE.

Official data shows that the number of companies listed on the STAR market reached 581 as of the end of 2024, with a total market value exceeding 6.34 trillion yuan (about 881.9 billion U.S. dollars).

To date, the exchange and the company have released 26 indices on the STAR market to build an index system that covers scales, themes and strategies. The scale of domestic and international products tracked by the indices has reached about 250 billion yuan.