BEIJING - Securities regulators on Friday confirmed that the State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved a plan to expand pilot zones for the "new third board," a new over-the-counter (OTC) equity market, to shore up emerging businesses.

The new market is designed to be a platform for fledgling high-tech and growth enterprises to transfer shares and raise funds for specified use.

Pilot areas will be expanded to the Zhangjiang High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Shanghai, East Lake High-Tech Development Zone in central China's city of Wuhan and the Tianjin Binhai High-Tech Industrial Development Area, an unnamed official with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.