(Yicai) May 22 -- The Shanghai Futures Exchange will speed up the introduction of new futures products, including cast aluminum alloy, liquefied natural gas, offset printing paper, and corrugated base paper, to better meet evolving industrial demands, according to the chairman of the major derivatives market.

The SHFE will steadily advance the opening-up of products such as nickel, implement portfolio margin systems, introduce new trading orders, and strengthen systemic risk controls to ensure stable market operations, Tian Xiangyang stated at the 2025 Shanghai Derivatives Market Forum, which opened today.

Over the past year, the SHFE has focused on building a “diversified and innovative” product portfolio. Highlights include launching options contracts for lead, nickel, tin, and alumina; piloting group delivery centers for crude oil and other commodities; expanding registration for more steel brands; and authorizing the Osaka Exchange -- Japan’s largest derivatives exchange -- to use Chinese natural rubber futures settlement prices for its domestic producers. Additionally, the SHFE has launched a next-generation trading system and opened its non-ferrous metals data system to a wider market.

Wang Ying, deputy department director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said during the forum that Shanghai’s futures market is increasingly attracting global industrial firms and major financial institutions, with its pricing power growing as a benchmark for international trade.

Zhou Xiaoquan, executive deputy director of Shanghai’s finance bureau, noted that the expanding product range and pricing capabilities of the local futures market are enhancing its role in supporting domestic companies going global, while advancing China’s goals for high-quality economic development, financial reform, and greater openness.

He Qingwen, chairman of the China Financial Futures Exchange, emphasized that China’s futures market remains committed to stabilizing the capital market and its functions, optimizing trading mechanisms, attracting medium- and long-term investors, and fostering a healthy market ecosystem.

The forum also announced that the SHFE and its subsidiary, the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, have joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, becoming the first commodity futures exchanges on the mainland to participate. The UN initiative helps stock exchanges and regulators to promote responsible investment practices.

Held annually since 2004, this year’s Shanghai Derivatives Market Forum is themed “Explore the Path of High-Quality Development of China’s Futures Market, and Strive to Serve the Real Economy with Higher Quality and Efficiency.”

Editor: Emmi Laine