Lock-up shares worth $109b eligible for trade

BEIJING - China's stock market will see 673.7 billion yuan ($109.4 billion) in locked-up shares become eligible for trade next week, the highest weekly value this year, according to data from bourses.

A total of 260.8 billion non-tradable shares in 34 listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges will be released to the capital market after their lock-up agreements expire next week.

Under China's market rules, major shareholders of non-tradable stocks are subject to one or two years of lock-up before they are permitted to trade the shares.

The Agricultural Bank of China will see non-tradable shares worth 649.1 billion yuan become tradable next week, the largest amount of such shares to hit the Shanghai exchange next week.

But the holders of the bank's to-be-released shares, mainly Central Huijin Investment Ltd., the Ministry of Finance and the National Council for Social Security Fund, are unlikely to trade the stakes, according to Zhang Gang, a senior analyst with Southwest Securities.

China's stock market climbed last week following Premier Li Keqiang's remarks that stressed the importance of stabilizing growth and promoting structural reforms, raising hopes for supportive policies that could lift the economy.

China is due to release GDP data for the second quarter on Monday. Analysts largely expect an expansion rate of around 7.5 percent, sliding from the 7.7-percent rate seen during the January-March period.