BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the IPO applications of 13 companies.
The firms will be allowed to raise a maximum total of 7.5 billion yuan (1.09 billion US dollars), a statement said late Friday.
Five of the firms will be listed on the Shanghai bourse, three on the Shenzhen bourse's small- and medium-sized enterprise board, and five on the ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises.
The 13 firms and their underwriters are scheduled to confirm the IPO dates following discussions with the bourses before publishing prospectuses.
The CSRC gave the nod to 52 IPO applications in November, the highest monthly approvals this year.
Fast-tracking new share listings sends a positive signal that the watchdog is trying to restore the financing function of the stock market, said Wei Gang, president of the Capital Market Research Institute under Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The recent up tick in approvals has been met with enthusiasm from enterprises and a steady market, he said.