BEIJING - China's securities regulator has given the nod to the registration-based initial public offering (IPO) of two companies on the science and technology innovation board.

Giantec Semiconductor Corporation, a Shanghai-based chip products provider and CABIO Biotech (Wuhan) Co Ltd, a leading biotech company, will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR market, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

It did not specify the total amount of funds to be raised.

The companies and their underwriters will confirm the IPO dates and publish their prospectuses following discussions with the stock exchange.

The STAR market, inaugurated in June and designed to focus on companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors, eases the listing criteria but adopts higher requirements for information disclosure.