China's ChiNext, the new Nasdaq-style stock market, kicked off trading this morning with strong gains. It is designed to attract financing for small to medium sized enterprises. All 28 debutant stocks listed on ChiNext, part of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in southern China, were halted for 30 minutes at least once after they rose 20 percent from their opening prices. These listed companies are almost all privately owned outfits, in contrast with the state-owned firms that dominate the main stock market. China is home to 10 million small and mid-sized companies. The Chinese government has been talking for more than a decade about creating a Nasdaq-style market to promote technology and other new industries.