China sees 166 firms getting listed this year

BEIJING - China's securities watchdog said that 166 companies got the green light to be listed on the stock market as of Friday, with more than 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion) raised from investors.

These companies have gained funds in the amount of 104.1 billion yuan from their initial public offerings (IPOs), and the figure surpassed the 69.1 billion yuan raised for the whole year in 2014, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced Friday.

The CSRC is reviewing new IPO applications from 549 companies with a combined subscription in the value of 373.5 billion yuan, it said.

These IPOs come as China's stock market is on a bull run, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumping 1.54 percent Friday to finish at 5,023.1 points, surpassing the 5,000-point psychologically important mark for the first time in more than 7 years.