China may lift a 12-month ban on new share sales this year following the Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 18th Central Committee, according to Lan Banghua, from the IPO promotion department at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Lan made the comments during a forum on Nov 21.

"We have reason to believe that the IPOs may resume before the end of this year," Lan said.

A total of 761 enterprises have submitted IPO petitions to the Shanghai and Shenzhen Exchanges, the SME board and ChiNext.

Lan said small and medium-sized enterprises can raise funds through SMEs Private Placement Bonds before the IPO approval restarts.

Chinese regulators suspended initial public offerings in October 2012 and pledged not to lift the ban until new rules were introduced to curb misconduct and boost protection for investors.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is drafting rules to curb misconduct that would establish stiff penalties for investment banks before ending the freeze on IPOs.