Fewer locked shares to become tradable in China

Some 5.66 billion locked shares will become eligible for trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in the coming week, down from 9.23 billion shares unlocked this week.

The unlocked shares are worth about 83.87 billion yuan (12.9 billion U.S. dollars), slightly down from this week, according to information service provider Wind Info.

The peak of unlocked shares will fall on Monday, with 3.32 billion shares from 20 companies to become tradable, data showed.

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

Chinese stocks closed flat on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.01 percent to 3,365.24 points and the Shenzhen Component Index up 0.01 percent to 10,970.77.