BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of lock-up shares eligible for trade on China's stock market will drop significantly this week, according to Securities Times.
Shares to be unlocked on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from Monday to Friday will come in at 3.88 billion, down by more than 70 percent from a week ago.
Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a chemical company based in central China, will see nearly 3 billion shares become tradable, the biggest to hit the market among a total of 25 companies to unlock shares during the period.
Under China's market rules, major shareholders must wait for one to two years before they are permitted to sell their shares.
Chinese stocks opened higher on Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.65 percent to open at 2,699.82 points. The Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.77 percent higher at 8,187.89 points.