SHANGHAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have approved Pfizer Inc's blockbuster vaccine Prevenar 13, the U.S. drugmaker said in a statement on Wednesday, a breakthrough for the firm after it was forced to shut its vaccine business in China last year.

Prevenar - one of Pfizer's top selling products - is used primarily for infants to help prevent pneumococcal disease, a bacterial infection that can lead to illnesses such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.

Pfizer shuttered its China vaccines business after a license for an earlier version of Prevenar was not renewed. Foreign drugmakers face growing difficulties obtaining approvals for medicines in China, the world's No. 2 drug market.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)