Chinese companies are reviving plans to list in the U.S. after putting their initial public offerings on hold due to the financial crisis, Michael Yang, chief representative of the New York Stock Exchange's Beijing office, said Thursday.

"Many companies have resumed or kicked off their IPO process in the past few weeks because they see the situation in the secondary market is quite good," Yang said.

Last year, only four Chinese companies listed shares in the U.S., down sharply from 30 IPOs in 2007, he said.

While no Chinese companies listed in the U.S. in the first quarter this year, the picture improved in April with online gaming company Changyou.com Ltd.'s (CYOU) Nasdaq listing.

"In April the situation changed a lot," Yang said, adding two U.S. education companies and a U.S. technology firm also listed last month. "The situation is much better than three months ago."

The operator of the Nasdaq Stock Market, which has also seen a falloff in new listings amid depressed market sentiment, said last week it expects a slight rebound in listings from China on U.S. exchanges.

Robert McCooey, senior vice president of new listings and capital markets at Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ), said he expects about 20 Chinese companies to list in the next 12 months on both Nasdaq and the NYSE.

No IPOs have taken place in China since September 2008. Regulators are working on revamping listing rules for the main board and are finalizing listing rules for the new Growth Enterprise Market in Shenzhen.

-By Patricia Jiayi Ho, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588 5848; patricia.ho@dowjones.com