The China Securities Regulatory Commission's (CSRC) committee for reviewing public offerings announced the approval in a statement on the CSRC's website.
The plan will still need formal approval from the regulator, when the timing of the IPO will be finalised.
Analysts say Ningbo Port's IPO could face headwinds due to waning investor enthusiasm for transport stocks amid uncertainty over the global economic recovery.
The company competes with bigger rival Shanghai International Port (Group) Co.
Ningbo Port plans to issue up to 2.5 billion A shares denominated in yuan, or 18.8 percent of its expanded share capital, it said in a draft prospectus for the A-share IPO issued this week.
The company, one of the busiest in China, chiefly handles containers, iron ore and crude transportation as well as logistics. It also aims to issue 2.35 billion Hong Kong-listed H shares, although no details have been worked out.
The CSRC released the Shanghai IPO preliminary prospectus of Agricultural Bank of China [ABC.UL] on Friday, the last of the big state-owned lenders yet to go public. The bank's dual listing is likely to become the world's biggest ever, valued at as much as $30 billion. (Reuters)
