(Reuters) - U.S-listed shares of Chinese financial firms sank in early trade on Tuesday after Chinese regulators suspended regulatory approval for online small loan companies. Sources who had seen the notice from the top level Chinese government body told Reuters that China had urged provincial governments to suspend regulatory approvals for firms and also told local regulators to restrict granting of new approvals. Shares in online lender Qudian (N: QD ), whose shares only debuted last month, sank by as much as 20 percent in early trading. Shares of China Commercial Credit Inc (O: CCCR ) fell 6.4 percent, those in PPDAI Group (N: PPDF ) some 17.8 percent. Jianpu Technology (N: JT ), which also debuted just this month, fell 9.5 percent and China Rapid Finance (N: XRF ) slipped 12.92 percent.