China securities regulator says will approve IPOs at a 'rational' pace to ease pressure on market

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it will manage the pace of new share listings to ease pressure on the stock market, as Beijing seeks to tamp down rising volatility after markets plunged over 10 percent this week.

"We will make rational arrangements regarding IPO approvals in order to insure a smooth transition from the approval system to the registration-based system," CSRC spokesperson Deng Ge said at a regularly scheduled news conference on Friday.

Deng also said that companies planning to list will need at least half a month to prepare their applications to meet new regulations on listings published in December.

CSRC said it is drafting rules for the migration to the U.S.-style registration-based IPO system and will publish them when the time is right.

(Reporting by Sam Shen and Pete Sweeney; Editing by Kim Coghill)