More lock-up shares eligible for trade

BEIJING - Lock-up shares worth about 103.3 billion yuan ($15.9 billion) will become eligible for trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges this week.

The amount is about 239 percent higher than the previous week, according to information service provider Wind, as cited by China Securities Journal.

China's stock market will start trading on Tuesday this week after the New Year's Day holiday.

The peak share-unlocking day will fall on Tuesday, with shares from 43 companies worth 70.2 billion yuan to become tradable.

Sinopec Oilfield Service Corporation will see non-tradable shares worth around 24.6 billion yuan become tradable on Tuesday, the largest amount of such shares to hit the stock market in the week.

Under China's market rules, major shareholders must wait one to two years before they are permitted to sell their shares.

Chinese stocks closed higher on Dec 29, the last trading day of 2017, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.33 percent to close at 3,307.17 points and the smaller Shenzhen Component Index closing 0.61 percent higher at 11,040.45 points.