BEIJING - Lock-up shares worth 17.3 billion yuan ($2.81 billion) will become eligible for trading on China's stock markets during this week.

A total of 1.48 billion shares of 18 companies will be tradable on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, representing 0.35 percent of lock-up shares in China's A share market.

The volume has retreated since last week, halving from the figure of two weeks ago.

Shares of Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, the country's dairy giant, were the highest valued with 5.12 billion yuan of shares coming online in the next few days.

Under market rules, major shareholders of non-tradable stocks are subject to a lock-up period of one or two years before they are permitted to sell their shares.

Chinese shares stayed bearish in the first half. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished at 2,070.72 on Friday, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed at 7,401.35.