The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has newly approved IPO applications of seven companies, fewer than the 10 applications approved last week.

The seven companies will raise no more than 2.3 billion yuan (about 335 million U.S. dollars), a CSRC statement said late Friday.

The amount was much less than the 6.3 billion yuan greenlighted to be raised by the 10 IPOs last week.

Four companies will be listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange, two on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Board and one on the ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board.

The firms and their underwriters will confirm IPO dates and publish prospectuses following discussions with the exchanges.

Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the CSRC. China is gradually switching from an approval-based IPO system to a more market-oriented one based on registration.