Qianhai Equity Exchange officially opened on Thursday.

The number of companies that will list on the exchange will exceed 1,000, much more than market expectation.

Its previous goal was to attract 300 companies in the first step and increase the number to 500 by the end of 2013.

Staff at Qianhai said transactions will mainly involve debt financing in the preliminary stage. Equity trading will come in the next phase.

Listing, registration, trusteeship, and trading are all separated at Qianhai. Companies can list and ask for trusteeship all for free at Qianhai. The application is also for free. But it does not necessarily mean that companies can successfully get financing.