People.cn Co, has won approval for an initial public offering in Shanghai, the Chinese security regulator said, the first in a string of planned IPOs by Chinese state-run websites.

The company, a unit of the People's Daily, aims to sell 69 million shares, according to a previous filing. The approval notice was posted yesterday on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which shows that it was approved on January 13.

The official website says it wants to raise about 527 million yuan (83.5 million U.S. dollars) through the IPO. Nearly half of the proceeds will be used to grow mobile internet value-added services and the rest to upgrade networks and content.

People's Daily online is expected to begin its road trip to seek investors after China's holiday for Tomb Sweeping Festival, which falls on April 2-4 this year,the Oriental Morning Post reported, quoting sources close to the matter.

The plan comes as the State Council Information Office, the state's chief information regulator, ordered a reform of major news official websites in 2009. The state-owned news portals which are on the list to restructure include People's Daily online, Xinhua.net, CNTV and seven websites run by local governments.

Earlier reports said Xinhua aimed to go public by the end of this year, and it had hired China International Capital Corporation (CICC) as its underwriter.