China National Biotec Group, the country's largest provider of vaccines and blood products, secured approval on Thursday from the environment ministry to raise up to 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) in a Hong Kong IPO.

The approval puts China National Biotec (CNB) closer to its Hong Kong IPO, which if ultimately successful, will breathe life into a moribund market for new listings in the city. But the company still needs to get the go-ahead from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The state-owned pharmaceuticals firm, a unit of Sinopharm Group, plans to raise between 8.3 and 10.0 billion yuan via the offering to fund its business expansion, according to a prospectus posted on the environment ministry's website.

The deal would help lift the volume of new listings in Hong Kong, which had been the world's top IPO destination in 2009 and 2010. Volumes have plunged about 80 percent to $2.7 billion so far this year.

Sinopharm Group is also the parent of Hong Kong-listed Sinopharm Group Co Ltd, which raised HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) in an IPO in 2009.

China International Capital Corp (CICC), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and UBS (UBSN.VX) were hired to manage the IPO, Thomson Reuters publication IFR previously reported.

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