BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,106 small and medium-sized enterprises have debuted on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the "new third board," since the beginning of 2018.

These companies issued stocks worth 47.52 billion yuan (about 6.92 billion U.S. dollars), according to the exchange.

During the latest trading week before the National Day holiday, turnover on the board stood at 1.492 billion yuan, up 26.44 percent from the previous week.

The exchange was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to serve SMEs.

It is seen as a more beneficial financing channel for small businesses, with low costs and simple listing procedures.

As of Sept. 28, the overall market value of the 10,946 companies on the "new third board" reached over 3.6 trillion yuan.