China aims to launch stock index futures in 1st half of 2007

Chinese regulators are aiming to open the country's markets to stock index
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7a1P*A7t(R futures in the first half of this year. Fan Fuchun, vice chairman of the (xA`'PJ-Q9Y
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China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), made the announcement in a !\hTRs/i/I"b3t
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meeting of the annual top legislative body and a broad-based national advisory
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UC%T+r organization sessions. The CSRC had made a systematic research on the issues
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[~:c1u.g5iG of fund companies' involvement in stock index futures, he said, without @2j]bt

E+gy \7r"V2C elaborating. International financial giants have reportedly been lobbying
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nation's pioneering stock index futures. The trade of stock index futures
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uYaoS7a]4o6x would be launched on the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange, CSRC
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introduction of such derivatives could provide institutions with a much-needed "Hm#]D(I9s
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tool to hedge risks, but may also spur speculation and widen volatility. The 8Uk;AkBv_

{ |!o Td;J?U#aegi China Financial Futures Exchange, the country's first financial derivatives
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{8RqjCj&q+~~{/y exchange, was inaugurated on Sep. 8, 2006.