China's futures industry accelerates transformation amid further opening-up

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's futures industry is facing an unprecedented strategic development opportunity when the country makes solid progress in opening up its futures market to the outside world, stated some industry experts at a futures meeting held in Beijing on Wednesday.

At present, China's capital market and even financial markets have, to some extent, showed the development of interconnection. The futures companies have to face competition from securities companies, commercial banks and other financial institutions in some business fields.

In addition, China's further opening-up has also speeded up the pace of foreign financial institutions to enter the domestic futures market and exposed the domestic futures companies to the competition with the overseas counterparts, according to Wang Jianping, director of the Beijing Bureau of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Since the beginning of this year, China's futures market has achieved remarkable results in opening up to the outside world.

For example, a number of futures products have seen overseas traders. The share-holding of the foreign investors in the domestic futures companies has been lifted to 51 percent and that will no longer be restricted in three years, said Chen Shen, deputy director of the Department of Futures Supervision of CSRC.

The Department of Futures Supervision is now ready to grant licenses to foreign-invested futures companies, according to Chen.

In the face of the further opening-up and fierce competition, some analysts suggested that the domestic futures companies should seek diversified development.

China's financial industry is gradually shifting from the mode of separate operation to the mode of mixed operation. The futures industry should strive for more innovative business and diversified development, and form a broad strategic alliance with financial institutions such as brokers, funds, insurers, trusts and even banks, so as to expand development, said Xu Danliang, president of Founder CIFCO Futures. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)