There are likely to be fewer initial public offerings on the Chinese mainland this year compared with a record high in 2010 as most mega-sized enterprises have already launched their IPOs, an industry survey said yesterday.

Funds raised through the IPOs will drop to 400 billion yuan (US$60.6 billion) in Shanghai and Shenzhen this year, down from 478.3 billion yuan last year, said PricewaterhouseCoopers in a report yesterday.

"China's rising economy and the listings of small- and medium-sized companies will ensure that China's IPO market still see a busy year in 2011," said the accounting firm yesterday.

As small- and medium-sized companies are expected to be the main issuers of IPOs in 2011, the funds to be raised in aggregate this year will also decrease, PwC said.

The firm said that it forecasts 30 new listings on the main boards on the mainland and 290 new listings on the board for start-ups and small- and medium-sized firms.

Feng Heping, a partner with PwC, said China's economic structuring will also drive small but innovative firms to look to the stock market for funds.

"It could be difficult for small firms to obtain bank loans due to their small scale and higher risks," he said. "So, the capital market could be the main financing channel for them."

Industrial, retail, information technology and financial services are expected to be the main industries to list this year. City commercial banks are forecast to follow the listing path this year.

China introduced ChiNext, its own version of Nasdaq, for start-ups in September 2009. It also has a board for small- and medium-sized firms in Shenzhen.

In 2010, 321 firms went public by raising 298.1 billion yuan on these two boards, accounting for 62 percent of the funds raised for IPOs last year.