New rules to regulate share sales by top investors

China will issue new rules to better regulate share sales by major shareholders of listed companies in an attempt to prevent it from burdening the country's fragile stock market, the securities regulator said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as the stock-selling ban imposed by the regulator on major shareholders to stem the market rout in the summer is set to expire on Friday.

The lifting of the ban has been haunting A-share investors and it was attributed as one of factors that caused Monday's massive sell-off. The steep market slide triggered the circuit breaker mechanism that resulted in an unprecedented trading halt of equities, index futures and options.