China Merchants Bank (600036.SH; 3968.HK) will unlock 2.5 billion shares in Shanghai on February 27. With the new shares, the value of the bank's freely floated shares would hit RMB219.8 billion based on the company's share price last Friday, pushing Merchants Bank past Citic Securities (600030.SH) to become first in China in terms of the total value of freely-floated shares [many companies would remain larger in terms of total market cap, .ed], reports Beijing Business Today. Shares of China Merchant Bank fell 1.88 percent to close at RMB29.78 in the down market in Shanghai on Monday.