BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the IPO applications of 10 companies.

The firms will be allowed to raise a maximum total of 4.9 billion yuan (709 million U.S. dollars), a statement said late Friday.

Four of the firms will be listed on the Shanghai bourse, two on the Shenzhen stock market's Small and Medium-sized Enterprise board, and four on the ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises.

The 10 firms and their underwriters are scheduled to confirm the IPO dates through discussions with the bourses before publishing prospectuses.

Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the CSRC, which controls both the timing and pricing.

China is working on transforming its IPO approval system into one based on registration, which will allow the bourses to take over IPO approvals and clear the backlog of companies on the waiting list.