China stocks expect big lock-up expiration

BEIJING - China's stock market expects lock-up agreements covering 64.19 billion yuan ($10.19 billion) of shares to expire next week, which has only two trading days because of the New Year holiday.

The figure, more than 50 percent higher than the amount this week, was also the largest since mid-August, Southwest Securities analyst Zhang Gang said.

The 10.06 billion shares of 56 listed companies will become eligible to be sold on Monday or Friday, and the shares may have a psychological impact on the stock market, analysts said.

China started a program in 2005 to convert non-tradable shares into tradable stocks. Major shareholders of non-tradable stocks are subject to one or two years of lock-up.

Slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy has dragged China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down by as much as 21 percent from its peak this year before it was shored up by improving economic data.

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