SINGAPORE, July 3 (Reuters) - Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics has received regulatory approval for a Shanghai listing through which ‌it plans to raise 4.2 billion yuan ($619.4 million), moving ‌it closer to one of China's most watched technology initial public offerings.

The approval ​comes as China's onshore IPO market shows signs of life after a long slowdown. China Resources New Energy shares more than doubled in their Shenzhen debut on Thursday after the wind and solar ‌company raised 24.5 billion ⁠yuan, Asia's biggest IPO so far this year.

China's securities regulator said in a Thursday notice that it ⁠had approved Unitree's application for the IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market, the city's technology board. The approval is valid for 12 months.

A-share ​IPOs, or ​listings on the Shanghai, Shenzhen ​and Beijing exchanges, raised $7.7 billion ‌in the first half of the year, up 64.4% from the year-earlier period, LSEG data showed.

Unitree plans to sell at least 40.45 million shares, according to its prospectus filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange previously. The company has not set a launch date ‌or price range.

Unitree plans to use ​the proceeds for robot artificial intelligence ​model research, robot body ​research, new robot product development and a smart robot ‌manufacturing base, according to the ​prospectus.

The Hangzhou-based company ​makes humanoid robots, four-legged robots and robot parts.

Its listing would test investor demand for China's robotics sector, a key part ​of Beijing's push ‌to develop machines that can use AI in factories, ​homes and public spaces.

($1 = 6.7812 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yantoultra ​Ngui; Editing by Michael Perry)