China's securities regulator said it's resuming the sale of non-tradable shares publicly listed companies on a trial basis.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a statement, said the program starts from May 1. The commission will vet applications from companies seeking to sell the formerly "lock- up" shares.

The bulk of the shares are held by the Chinese government, which owns about two-thirds of stock in publicly listed companies in the nation's $400 billion markets.

The government has previously said it wants to sell the shares to finance pension funds. Previous attempts to sell non- tradable shares were delayed when markets tumbled on investor concern about a glut of stock.

(CRI.com via agencies May 2, 2005)