BEIJING, April 22 (Reuters) - China shares closed up 0.3 percent on Tuesday, as strong performances from free trade zone firms helped the index turnaround from being in the red for most of the day on the news that 18 additional companies had gained listing approval.

The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC ended up 0.3 percent at 2072.83 points. The CSI300 .CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings rose 0.4 percent.

Monday's announcement that more companies received the greenlight to list came after the Securities regulator surprised investors with similar news over the weekend for 28 companies to list after a two month hiatus, stoking concerns of a share oversupply and of funds being diverted from existing companies

The 18 new approvals brings the total number of companies cleared for listing to 46. A further 560 companies are still waiting for IPO approvals.

One bright spot on the index was Shanghai free trade zone related companies, which had a positive day after the Shanghai municipal government published new regulations aimed at facilitating commodities trading in the zone.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Development Co Ltd

600648.SS jumped 8.4 percent and Shanghai Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone Development Co Ltd 600663.SS gained 7.1 percent.

(Reporting By Natalie Thomas; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

((natalie.thomas@thomsonreuters.com)(+ 86 10 6627 1269))

Keywords: MARKETS CHINA STOCKS/CLOSE