ROME, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Italian-American carmaker Fiat Chrysler and France's Peugeot announced Friday that the prospectus for Stellantis -- the company to be created by their merger -- had been approved by the financial markets regulator in the Netherlands, opening the door for Stellantis shares to be traded on European stock exchanges.

The development comes in the wake of an announcement that the final shareholder vote on the merger will take place on Jan. 4, 2021. Analysts said they expected the deal to be overwhelmingly approved.

Stellantis shareholders who hold onto their shares for at least three years will receive a new voting share for each share they own, a plan that will at once reward long-term shareholders while also making the company less of a takeover target.

Barring any unexpected delays, the 38-billion-U.S. dollar (32.2-billion-euro) merger is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.

Once finalized, the company will be formally based in the Netherlands, and its shares will trade on the stock exchanges in Milan, Paris, and New York.

The giant car market in China is expected to be an area of focus for Stellantis, according to previous comments from analysts as well as officials from Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot.

"If Stellantis wants to be a global company, its biggest challenge will be to gain a foothold in the Chinese market," Paolo Bricco, an automobile sector analyst who has authored multiple books about Fiat Chrysler, told Xinhua last month.

According to Car Sale Base, neither Fiat Chrysler nor Peugeot was among the top 30 automakers in terms of car sales in the Chinese market last year, based on data provided by manufacturers.