Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR market, has continued to drive the momentum of initial public offerings (IPOs) on the A-share market, according to the consulting firm Ernst & Young.

It is estimated that 120 companies were listed on the A-share market in the January-June period this year, up 88 percent year on year, with total funds rising 132 percent year on year to nearly 140 billion yuan (about 19.8 billion U.S. dollars).

In the first half of 2020, IPOs on the STAR market ranked first and second by deals and proceeds, respectively, among different boards on the A-share market, according to a report.

Four out of the top 10 IPOs on the A-share market were from the sci-tech and innovation board, raising a total of 13.8 billion yuan, which accounted for 23 percent of total funds.

The STAR market was launched in June 2019 in a bid to support companies in the high-tech and emerging sectors. It aims to ease listing criteria but adopts higher requirements for information disclosure.