China looks beyond commodity derivatives with equity options launch

Commodities have been the mainstay of China's derivative markets so far but the launch of equity options on two of the country's main exchanges could see this dominance challenged

Shanghai Stock Exchange, home to one of the two new options launches

Although the first commodity-linked futures contract in China was traded in March 1991 on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, the development of other asset classes including equity-linked futures and options products has lagged markedly with the first futures contract referencing the CSI 300 index, an index of 300 Shanghai and Shenzhen listed A-shares, launched as recently as 2010 on the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX).

As a measure of the dominance of commodity derivatives onshore, 66%