BEIJING -- China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board," has seen a turnover of 40.2 billion yuan (about $5.6 billion) since the beginning of this year, according to the exchange.

From May 25 to 29, turnover reached 1.72 billion yuan.

As of Friday, 8,591 companies had been listed on the NEEQ.

Launched in 2013, the new third board is the third national equity trading bourse after the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is designed for innovative and high-growth micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises including start-ups.

China has outlined a series of reforms to better orient the NEEQ to the needs and features of small enterprises and support quality growth of the real economy.