CHINA Life Insurance Co, the country's largest life insurer, said 600 million additional shares will be made available for public trading in Shanghai on January 9.

Investors who bought shares in the initial public offering last year will be able to trade them this week after a 12-month "lockdown" period ends, Beijing-based China Life said yesterday in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

China Life sold 1.5 billion shares on the mainland last year at 18.88 yuan each, raising 28.3 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion).

The stock has since tripled in value, increasing by 22.1 billion yuan the value of the 600 million shares bought at the IPO price.