Locked shares worth $39b to become tradable in January

BEIJING - Locked shares from around 200 listed companies will become eligible for trade on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in January.

Calculated with previous closing prices, the shares are worth more than 270 billion yuan ($39 billion), according to data service provider ChinaDataPay.

Six companies will see locked shares of more than 10 billion yuan made eligible for trade this month, including China CITIC Bank, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities and Bank of Chengdu.

On Wednesday, Focus Media Information Technology Co saw shares worth more than 40 billion yuan unlocked.

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