Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province was home to 98 A-share listed enterprises as of May 1, ranking seventh in China, according to official data.

The figure is expected to exceed 100 by the end of this year, making Ningbo the seventh Chinese city following Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guangzhou to join the "100-plus club".

Ningbo was also ranked seventh nationwide in terms of the scale of increase in 2020. Last year, 13 companies from the city made initial public offerings (IPOs) at A-share markets. Five of these companies debuted at the China's Growth Enterprise Market.

Among the 98 A-share listed businesses, 21 percent saw their market value surpass 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion), while 16.33 percent are from the automobile industry.

The Bank of Ningbo, which had a market value of  about 253.72 billion yuan as of May 1, was ranked 45th on the A-share markets. Civil electrical brand Bull took the 100th spot with a value of about 117.64 billion yuan.

Ningbo has seen a notable improvement in its financial services, allowing more local enterprises to achieve growth by leveraging the capital market.

In November last year, Yongxing Securities Co Ltd, a Ningbo-based securities trader, was officially inaugurated. The company is the only comprehensive securities company in Ningbo and the first domestic securities company to be approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in the last 10 years.