Lock-up shares worth 63.28b yuan eligible for trade

BEIJING - Lock-up shares worth about 63.28 billion yuan (about $9.22 billion) will become eligible for trade on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in the coming week.

About 4 billion shares from 40 companies will become tradable from Jan 23 to 26, according to RoyalFlush Information, a financial information service provider.

This is higher than 24.3 billion yuan of shares unlocked this week.

China Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd will see the unlocking of 404 million shares, the largest group to hit the market next week.

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

Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.7 percent at 3,123.14 points.