BEIJING -- A majority of listed firms on China's Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board, or the STAR market, reported net profit growth in 2019 as new business models and products powered their growth, China Securities Journal reported Tuesday.

Of the 91 STAR-listed firms, 90 had released preliminary earnings results, among which 70 expected net profit growth, according to the report. Wuhan Xingtu Xinke Electronics Co Ltd postponed the release due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Altogether 49 companies forecast net profit expansion of more than 20 percent, with 10 in the biopharmaceutical industry.

The 20 firms that reported losses were mainly dragged down by factors including jumping input in research and development, as well as increasing market competition, the report noted.

The forecasts came amid a solid expansion of the Chinese economy in 2019, when the world's second-largest economy logged a 6.1-percent year-on-year growth, well within the government's annual target of 6 to 6.5 percent.

Launched on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in July 2019, the STAR market was designed to support companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors in a bid to transform the Chinese economy into an innovative one and explore ways to make institutional improvements in the capital market.