Chinese firms are again turning to the South Korean stock market as the bourse starts to ease barriers for newcomers after shunning them in the past due to failures, Yonhap New Agency reported on Wednesday citing officials and industry sources.

Fujian HengSheng Animation Culture Diffusion Co, a toy and animation character maker in China, is said to be preparing an application to list on the Seoul bourse later this month, and has signed a deal with Shinhan Investment Corp to manage the process.

Meanwhile, Haichuan, a traditional Chinese medicine company, joined hands with Woori Investment & Securities, one of the largest securities firms in Korea, to apply for an initial public offering on the KOSDAQ next month.

The report, without elaborating the specifics, said the Korea Exchange will review whether the two firms are eligible to list on KOSDAQ.

If their applications are approved, it will be the first listing by Chinese firms in three years after Wanli International Holdings Ltd, a Chinese tile manufacturer, was listed on the KOSDAQ market in June 2011.

More and more Chinese companies have sought overseas listing in the past few years, with most choosing the United States where 10 companies have already gone public in the first half of this year.

Alibaba Group Holding Inc has pushed its highly anticipated IPO until after the September Labor Day holiday in the US, as the Chinese online retail company works through the complex process of launching what could the largest-ever US tech debut.

9 IPOs launched by Chinese companies in US this year	Top 10 largest stock exchanges