(Yicai Global) Feb. 15 -- The Shanghai Stock Exchange plans to set up two new indexes to track its upcoming science and technology board.

The bourse penned a deal today with nine cities along the G60 Sci-Tech Corridor to prep for the new board, which is set to go live this year. Both of the new indexes will be based around the 2,360 kilometer G60 expressway that connects Shanghai and Kunming: the Shanghai Composite Index of the G60 High-Tech Corridor and the Shanghai Component Index of G60 Strategic Emerging Industries.

The G60 Sci-Tech Corridor spans 76,200 square kilometers surrounding the expressway, with a resident population of around 49 million and gross domestic production tally CNY5.74 trillion (USD847 million). The region connects nine major cities along the Yangtze River Delta: Shanghai, Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Suzhou, Huzhou, Xuancheng, Wuhu and Hefei.

These cities invested nearly CNY160 billion (USD24 billion) on research and development last year, and harbor 15,816 companies in strategic emerging industries, 1,262 national and provincial engineering laboratories and research centers and 176 colleges. They are also home to thousands of highly educated individuals.

The indexes aim to track the development of science and innovation sectors, such as artificial intelligence, new materials, integrated circuits and biomedicine, in the cities.

The G60 Composite Index will include 161 companies, or 11.7 percent of all Shanghai-listed firms, with a total market capitalization of about CNY1.5 trillion (USD221.4 billion).

The G60 Component Index will include 50 companies from strategic emerging sectors, including those listed on the main board and those planning to float on the new sci-tech board, which Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed in November to help tech firms raise more money and lure foreign investors to China's stock markets.