51-bln-yuan in lock-up shares eligible for trade

Lock-up shares worth 50.8 billion yuan (8.32 billion U.S. dollars) will become eligible for trade next week in China.

The volume marks a huge rise from the 37.5 billion yuan seen from Dec. 23 to 27, according to information from the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Altogether, 45 listed companies on the two stock exchanges will see their lock-up shares released to capital markets next week.

Under the mainland'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.

Of all the companies with non-tradable shares becoming tradable next week, Chongqing Department Store Co., Ltd. has the most -- 236 million non-tradable shares worth 5.13 billion yuan.