China's securities regulator has approved another six firms' applications for listing on the country's second board in Shenzhen, a badly needed source of funding for start-ups in the world'sm third largest economy, the offical Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

The companies are in the fields of new energy, logistics, outdoor activity equipment and bio-engineering technology. They will raise 2.27 billion yuan ($332.5 million) from the listings.

This is the second batch of applicants approved for initial public offerings (IPO) on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), which is designed to fund start-ups, Xinhua said, quoting the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The regulator approved the first group of seven companies for the second board on Thursday.

It has recently approved dozens of IPOs, rights and other new share issues, adding to worries of an oversupply of shares and weighing on market sentiment.

($1=6.826 Yuan)

(Reporting by Jacqueline Wong; editing by Simon Jessop)

China Energy