Twenty online brokerages have been granted licences in a new round of approvals, the latest in a string of approvals by China's regulator to open the Internet finance sector market.

Among them, Xizang Tongxin Securities said last month that it plans to sell 70 percent of its stake to East Money Information Co, thus aiming a larger online business scope. Xiangcai Securities had signed a similar cash and share agreement worth 8.5 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion) with the finance information service Shanghai DZH Ltd in January.

A total of 55 licences have been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The Chinese government first gave the nods in April last year, granting five licences to brokerages including CITIC Securities Co, Guotai Junan Securities and Ping An Securities Co. The combined net profits of 120 brokerage firms totaled 96.55 billion yuan in 2014, surging 119.34 percent from 2013, according to the Securities Association of China.