中國準備推出首批大宗商品期權合約

As China prepares to introduce its first options contracts for commodities trading, the head of one of the country’s leading bourses for raw materials has shrugged off fears that the move will add to the extreme volatility in commodities seen in 2016.

在中國準備推出首批大宗商品期權合約之際，人們擔憂此舉將加劇2016年所見的那種極端波動，不過中國一家原材料交易所的負責人對這種擔憂表示不以爲然。

“We [in China] are behind international markets because we have too few tools, too few products,” says Li Zhengqiang, chairman of the Dalian Commodity Exchange, adding that introducing more products and new instruments like options will help hedge risk, not add to it.

大連商品交易所(Dalian Commodity Exchange)理事長李正強表示：“我們和國際市場還有很大的差距……我們目前工具不夠，產品也不夠。”他補充稱，推出更多產品，引進像期權這樣的新工具，有助於對衝風險，而非加劇風險。

Regulators approved the launch of the country’s first commodities options last month, giving the nod to Dalian to launch soyameal contracts later this year, and for white sugar options at rival Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.

監管機構上月批准了中國首批大宗商品期權合約，同意大連商品交易所於今年晚些時候開展豆粕期權交易，同意鄭州商品交易所(Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange)開展白糖期權交易。

The approvals come after a year of record volumes in Chinese commodities futures trading. Explosive gains in Chinese steel and coal contracts in 2016 took international markets by surprise and lifted prices globally. The boom in futures trading alarmed regulators, who feared a repeat of the stock market turmoil experienced the year before.

在監管機構批准期權交易前，中國大宗商品期貨一年來的交易額創出歷史最高紀錄。中國鋼材和煤炭合約交易額在2016年的爆炸性增長讓國際市場感到意外，並提升了全球價格。期貨交易激增讓監管機構感到不安，他們擔心重演2015年股市動盪那一幕。

In 2016, the Dalian exchange saw trading volumes jump almost 50 per cent from a year earlier to Rmb61.4tn, a three-fold increase from 2010. Trading volumes on China’s three exchanges reached a combined record of Rmb177tn last year.

在2016年，大商所交易額比上年飆升近50%，至61.4萬億元人民幣，較2010年增長2倍。中國三大交易所去年的交易總額達到創紀錄的177萬億元人民幣。

Mr Li, who wants the DCE to become one of the international centres for commodities pricing and risk management, says there is a growing consensus among Chinese officials of the need to embrace new financial products. China launched options on an equity index in 2015.

李正強希望讓大商所成爲大宗商品定價和風險管理的國際中心之一，他表示，中國官員中間日益形成了有必要支持金融新產品的共識。中國在2015年推出了股指期權。

In an interview in the northeastern port of Dalian, he said: “Society used to worry about new products, and officials did as well. Now they basically don’t have doubts any more.”

他在大連接受採訪時表示：“特別是以前，社會上對期貨有顧慮，有些部委對上市期貨品種都很擔心，現在這個疑慮基本沒有了。”

Introducing options is first of the exchange’s “three big strategic missions,” he says, along with allowing foreign investors to trade directly in Chinese futures, and introducing swaps contracts.

他說，推出期權交易是大商所“三大戰略任務”的第一步，另兩個任務是允許境外投資者直接交易中國期貨以及推出掉期合約。

Options — which give the right but not the obligation to buy a financial contract in the future — would allow greater hedging flexibility for Chinese corporations; swaps would allow producers and consumers greater protection against commodity price volatility.

期權給予投資者在未來購買金融合約的權利，但並非義務。期權將讓中國企業擁有更大的對衝靈活性；掉期合約將讓生產商和消費者能夠更好地防範大宗商品價格的波動。

Both products have boosted volumes and profits for exchanges worldwide, but China’s conservative regulators had worried they would introduce even more volatility into domestic markets already known for their wild price movements.

兩種產品都提升了世界各地交易所的交易規模和利潤，但中國保守的監管機構擔心它們將會加劇國內市場的波動性——中國市場本已因價格劇烈波動而聞名於世。

“We are behind international markets because we have too few tools, too few products. And another disadvantage: at the moment, we are still a relatively closed market,” he says.

他說：“我們和國際市場還有一個很大的差距就是，我們還是一個相對封閉的市場。我們畢竟還不是一個開放的市場……但目前工具不夠，產品也不夠。”

Foreigners can set up a China-registered company to trade Chinese futures, but the process is cumbersome. Mr Li wants overseas investors to directly trade Dalian’s iron ore contract and possibly its palm oil contract. Regulators have yet to sign off.

外國人可以在中國註冊公司交易中國期貨，但過程繁瑣。李正強希望海外投資者可以直接交易大商所的鐵礦石合約，可能還有棕櫚油合約。監管機構迄今仍未放行這些交易。

While China is the leading buyer of most resources, including soyabeans, iron ore and oil, its futures markets are at a nascent stage, and Beijing is still feeling its way out of the state planning era. Only three years ago, it declared in policy reforms that markets should play a “decisive” role in allocating resources.

儘管中國是包括大豆、鐵礦石和石油在內的大多數資源的主要買家，但其期貨市場仍處於初期階段，而且北京方面仍在摸索着走出政府計劃時代。就在3年前，中國宣佈了應該讓市場在資源配置中發揮“決定性”作用的政策改革措施。

Mr Li is pulling for China’s transformation into an international financial centre equal to its economic heft. International traders already pay attention to China’s commodities exchanges — Dalian and the country’s two other commodities exchanges in Shanghai and Zhengzhou — which for several years have set the direction of international markets for metals and grains.

李正強希望中國轉變爲與自身經濟實力相匹配的國際金融中心。國際交易員已經開始關注中國的大宗商品交易所——分別位於大連、上海和鄭州——它們近些年來確定了國際金屬和穀物市場的方向。

But he understands the need for caution. “For China to launch any new tool, any reform, it needs a suitable environment. And what does that mean? It needs the market to be relatively stable.”

但他明白有必要保持謹慎。“任何市場創新都需要一個有利的外部環境。比如市場要比較平穩。如果市場不穩定，那就很難具備上市新品種的條件。”

Mr Li believes China’s three exchanges will someday rival the LME or CME as global players. But for now, they must balance their mission to increase trading volumes with averting a socially destabilising crash, he says. “Our responsibility is to keep the market stable. The burden on us to dampen market risk is greater.”

李正強相信中國的三家商品交易所總有一天能與倫敦金屬交易所(LME)或芝加哥商品交易所(CME)媲美，成爲全球性的交易所，但就目前而言，它們必須謹慎行事，既要實現增加交易額的計劃，又要避免出現不利於社會穩定的暴漲暴跌，不能顧此失彼。“中國的期貨交易所在維護市場穩定，防範市場風險方面，比世界其他成熟交易所的責任要重一些。”

Additional reporting by Archie Zhang

張祺補充報道