China's futures trading volume rose in April by 50 percent over the same month last year to 1.73 trillion yuan (US$216.63 billion), according to the China Futures Association.

 

The trading volume of soybeans No.2, aluminum, corn and rubber rose by a relatively big margin.

 

The total futures transaction volume for the first four months was 5.92 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.85 percent.

 

The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), one of China's three futures trading markets, reported in April transactions worth 1.11 trillion yuan, 89.9 percent up from April 2005 and 64.34 percent of the country's total futures transaction volume last month.

 

China has three futures exchanges: the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), and the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). Both the ZCE and DCE trade agricultural products while the SHFE provides futures contracts on other commodities such as copper, aluminum and rubber.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)