(Dalian Commodity Exchange)
DALIAN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China's first commodity option, the soybean meal option, started trading Friday on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).
As a financial derivative, a soybean meal option contract permits the option buyer the right, without obligation, to buy or sell the soybean meal at a designated price until a designated date.
The public trade of soybean meal options now means financial derivatives market does not only feature commodity futures trades in China, said Li Zhengqiang, the DCE president.
It also signaled progress in improving China's financial derivatives market system, said Fang Xinghai, deputy head of China Securities Regulatory Commission. "China will approve more commodity options."
The DCE, one of China's three commodity futures exchanges, has 16 futures varieties in agriculture, chemical engineering and energy minerals. Its trading volume ranked eighth in the global derivatives exchanges in 2016.