(Yicai) Sept. 2 -- On Aug. 19, the 2025 China (Zhengzhou) International Futures Forum, co-hosted by the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, kicked off in Zhengzhou. At the sub-forum on opening-up held that afternoon, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on the pathways and prospects for the high-level opening-up of China's futures market.

In his speech, Yang Guang, party secretary and chairman of the China Futures Association, stated that the high-level opening-up of the futures market is not only a key component in building a new development paradigm and enhancing the synergy between domestic and international markets, but also a concrete practice of implementing the decisions and strategies laid out by the central government. Currently, China's commodity futures market accounts for over 60 percent of global trading volume, with transaction volumes consistently ranking among the highest globally for several years. Against this backdrop, further promoting the opening-up of the futures market will help optimize the structure of market participants, refine the system of market rules and regulations, and drive the simultaneous improvement in both the scale and quality of China's futures market. This will continuously enhance its international competitiveness and influence.

"Continuously expanding opening-up is an important pathway for the steady and long-term development of the futures market." In the face of profound changes in the global economic order, Yang stated that the CFA will actively promote the high-level opening-up of the futures market, enhance the futures industry's ability to serve the national economy and allocate global resources, and provide strong support for Chinese modernization and the building of a financially strong nation.

In the speech, the relevant representative of the ZCE stated that prudently advancing institutional-level high-standard opening-up of the futures market, enhancing international competitiveness and influence, and serving the high-quality development of the real economy are the missions and responsibilities of the ZCE in implementing fundamental national policies.

The representative stated that opening up to the outside world is the only path to enhancing the influence of commodity prices. Advancing the opening-up of the futures market, providing the international market with a greater supply of futures and options products, optimizing market rules and institutional systems, attracting more overseas participants, and improving the structure of market participants will help fully leverage both domestic and international markets and resources, thereby enhancing the influence of commodity prices. At the same time, opening up to the outside world is also an important tool to support industrial enterprises in "going global." As the level of openness deepens, the demand from domestic and international industrial chain enterprises for risk management and pricing services continues to grow. Promoting the high-level opening-up of the futures market can provide domestic and international enterprises with more effective hedging tools, offer fairer price benchmarks for cross-border trade, and contribute to the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.

The representative of the ZCE stated that in the future, ZCE will unswervingly promote opening-up, continuously explore cross-border cooperation, and further optimize its institutional systems and environment. This will facilitate domestic and foreign enterprises in widely utilizing futures prices for trade pricing, better empower the real economy, and support the high-quality development of the futures market.

Tim Smith, managing director of client development and sales for Asia Pacific at CME Group, emphasized the importance of risk management, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainty and volatility. In his view, the increasing market fluctuations are testing the strength and resilience of the global financial system. In this environment, China’s futures market and the global derivatives market continue to evolve and innovate to meet the increasingly complex and dynamic risk management needs of various institutions, including producers, consumers, and financial institutions.

During the roundtable discussion, futures brokerage institutions from both domestic and international markets engaged in in-depth exchanges on the theme of "Pathways and Prospects for the Opening-up of the Futures Industry."

This sub-forum brought together key insights from representatives of regulatory bodies, domestic and international exchanges, and industry institutions. There was a shared consensus among all parties that opening-up is not only an inherent requirement for market development but also a critical driver for enhancing the stability of global supply chains and improving the efficiency of resource allocation.