Two new closed-end stock funds have won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which ended a five-month freeze on new funds in an effort to break the fall in domestic equities.

CCB Principal Asset Management Co and China Southern Fund Management Co will launch funds with ceilings of six billion and eight billion shares respectively, according to Saturday's Shanghai Securities News. The two funds will together raise about 14 billion yuan (US$1.95 billion) after the Spring Festival.

The CSRC suspended the launch of new funds late last year amid the surging domestic stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index nearly doubled in 2007.

But the benchmark index dipped to 4,320.77 points on Friday, nearly 30 percent off its record high of mid-October, as investors sold holdings due to concern over a possible United States recession.

The domestic stock market has seen volatile trading in recent weeks, with shares sinking more than seven percent on January 22, the largest percentage loss in nearly eight months.