Futures market turnover down 4% in 2017

BEIJING — The turnover of China’s futures market dropped slightly in 2017 amid tight financial regulations, industry data showed.

The total transaction value of the futures market hit 187.9 trillion yuan ($28.87 trillion) in 2017, down 3.95 percent year-on-year, data from the China Futures Association showed Tuesday.

The volume of futures trading plummeted by 25.66 percent during the period.

Turnover at the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, which trades methanol and white sugar futures, slumped 31.14 percent.

Turnover at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which trades rebar futures and some other metal futures, gained 5.83 percent to 89.93 trillion yuan, accounting for almost half of the total market.

China Financial Futures Exchange saw total transaction value jump by 34.98 percent to 24.59 trillion yuan.

As China stepped up financial supervision to rein in systemic risks, regulators of the futures market also made efforts to correct irregularities.

The country’s three commodity exchanges have been adjusting the margin deposit requirements on futures trading on a regular basis to prevent overheated market activity.

Last November, the China Futures Association said it would guide futures companies in China to conduct the first comprehensive stress test to gauge the ability of firms to respond to a set of scenarios.

“Maintaining stability is the very foundation of development. We have always placed risk control as the top priority,” said Li Zhengqiang, president of the Dalian Commodity Exchange.