Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (hereafter referred to as ZCE) was founded on October 12, 1990. With the approval of the State Council, ZCE was established as China’s first pilot futures market. After two years of successful operation of a spot market, ZCE officially launched futures trading on May 28, 1993.

Up to date, ZCE has listed 18 futures products and 1 options product, including common wheat, strong gluten wheat, early rice, late indica rice, japonica rice, cotton, cotton yarn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, rapeseed meal, white sugar, apple, thermal coal, methanol, pure terephthalic acid (PTA), flat glass, manganese silicon, ferrosilicon futures and white sugar options, covering crucial fields of national economy including agricultural, energy, chemical, construction materials and metallurgical industries.

ZCE acts as the Central Counter Party and conducts clearing for derivatives trading. ZCE conducts clearing for its members and each member conducts clearing for its clients. ZCE implements margin requirement, daily mark-to-market and risk reserve mechanisms on derivatives trading. ZCE’s Clearing Department is responsible for the settlement of trading and delivery, manages margin and risk reserves, and prevents risks associated with clearing.

ZCE adopts a membership governance structure. The General Assembly is the governing body of the exchange and consists of all members. The Board is the standing presence of the Members Assembly, and governs seven specialized committees including Strategic Advisory Committee, Products Committee, Trading Committee, Self-Disciplinary Committee, Finance & Audit Committee, Information Technology Committee and Supervision Committee. By the end of 2017, ZCE has 164 members, spreading over 26 provinces (municipalities) and autonomous regions, including 149 futures firm members accounting for 91% of all members and 15 non-futures firm members accounting for 9% of all members.