Stock index futures rules approved

Chinese government has formally approved the rules for stock index futures trading and so far the basic rules for index futures have all been approved, an official from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced Saturday.

In the final version of the regulations, the margin requirement was raised from 10 percent to 12 percent, and the position limit was cut to 100 contracts from previous 600 contracts to reduce leverage and curb risks, according to the official.

Also, according to the notice released by the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFE) Saturday, the investors can begin to open accounts from 9 am on February 22.

But the opening of accounts would not necessarily mean that the start of futures trading was imminent.

The CSRC said in January when it announced its approval of stock index futures that it would take about three months to prepare for the actual start of trading.

The official also reminded that being different from stock market, the future market is a risk management market, but not an investment market, and the phenomena of "speculate new stocks" and "pursue chips" in stock market would not appear in future market.

Investors should understand the characteristic of the market of the stock futures, especially the risks, and participate in the trading rationally, the official added.

In addition, according to the notice from the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), at the earlier days of the trial, the ranges of the underlying securities include 50 constituent stocks in SSE and 40 stocks in SZSE.

Also, the securities that can offset the deposit include the listed A-shares in corresponding stock exchange, funds and bonds.

China approved the launch of the trial of the margin trading and short selling of stocks at the beginning of this year.

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