Securities watchdog approves 24 IPOs

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Monday gave the green light to 24 companies, allowing them to make initial public offerings (IPO) on the country's equity market.

In the first round of IPOs in the Lunar New Year, 12 will be listed on the Main Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, four on the Shenzhen SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) Board, and eight on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

These companies will set the final date for the stock offering with the two bourses and publish prospectuses.

The CSRC approved 125 IPO applications in seven rounds last year after restarting new offerings in June. As of December 25, 654 IPO applicants were waiting for CSRC approvals.

China suspended IPO approvals in 2013 to address public concern that the capital market had decayed into a gambling den where unqualified companies could make fortunes overnight just by being listed.

On the IPO restart last year, securities regulators pledged to step up supervision of the market.