China's securities regulator has approved new equities funds, seeking to shore up investor confidence and stabilize the stock market, officials from three fund management companies said Tuesday.

The decision appears to offer retail investors more opportunities to invest in mutual funds instead of individual stocks, which can be far more volatile.

Spokesmen for Shanghai-based Fortune SGAM Fund Management Co., Shenzhen-based Invesco Great Wall Fund Management and Beijing-based Yimin Asset Management Co. said the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Monday approved the launch of the new equities funds.

Invesco Great Wall Fund and Fortune SGAM Fund said they plan to start selling their new funds as early as next week.

Yimin Asset Management said it plans to sell its new fund in the near-term, though it gave no timetable. The fund will invest 40 percent to 90 percent of its assets in stocks, 5 percent to 55 percent in bonds and up to 3 percent of its assets in warrants.

Major securities newspapers reported Tuesday that Guangzhou-based GF Fund Management Co. also received regulatory approval to launch a new equities fund.

But an official at the media department of GF Fund Management said the company had not yet received any notice from the CSRC.