The emergence of futures market

1848, 82 businessmen in Chicago initiated the establishment of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to reduce the risk of grain trading.

1865, CBOT launched a standardized contract and implemented a deposit system; 1882, CBOT began to allow the exemption of performance liability through hedging; 1925, the Chicago Board of Trade Clearing Company (BOTCC) was established, and all transactions of the Chicago Board of Trade must enter the clearing company for settlement. At this point, futures trading in a truly modern sense began to take shape.

Development of futures market

1848 to the 1970s, the trading varieties in the futures market were mainly commodity futures, which can be divided into agricultural futures represented by wheat, corn and soybeans. Metal futures represented by copper, aluminum, tin and silver, and energy futures represented by crude oil, gasoline and propane.

In the 1970s, financial futures such as interest rate, stock and stock index, and foreign exchange were introduced one after another, while the American long-term treasury bond futures option contract was listed in CBOT on June 1 982+1October1day, which opened up a new world for other commodity futures and financial futures trading.

Second, the function of futures market.

Transferring price risk is a basic function of futures market. Futures trading is to provide a channel for producers and operators to transfer the price risk in the spot market, and to transfer the risk of spot price fluctuation through hedging transactions in the futures market.

Another basic function of the futures market is price discovery. Through futures trading, the factors that affect the supply and demand of commodities in all aspects are reflected in the futures market, so the futures price formed in this way has high authenticity and can become a unified guiding price generally accepted by producers and operators everywhere.

In addition, the futures market is also a powerful place for investors to invest. For investors, if there are no futures varieties in the portfolio, they will lose many investment opportunities.

Third, the development of China futures market.

The development of China's futures market began in the late 1980s and mainly experienced the following periods.

Phase I: Scheme research and initial implementation stage (1988- 1990).

1990 10, Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market in China was approved by the State Council, and based on spot trading, the futures trading mechanism was introduced as the first commodity futures market in China.

The second stage: rapid development stage (1990- 1993)

By the second half of 1993, there were more than 50 futures exchanges and nearly 1,000 futures brokers in China, and the futures market showed signs of blind development.

Phase III: rectification period (1993- 1998)

In June, 1993, 1 1, the State Council issued the Notice on Stopping the Blind Development of the Futures Market. 1994 in may, the general office of the State Council approved the request of the State Council securities commission on resolutely stopping the blind development of the futures market, and began to comprehensively sort out the futures exchanges. 35 futures trading varieties were reduced to12; Part-time institutions withdrew from the futures brokerage agency industry, and the original 294 futures brokerage companies were reduced to about 180.

1September, 1999, a regulation and four administrative measures were formally implemented, which established a regulatory framework for the standardized development of the futures market. In this way, after several years of structural adjustment and standardization, the futures market planning framework based on the Provisional Regulations on the Administration of Futures Trading and the four management measures has been basically established, the three-level market supervision system of China Securities Regulatory Commission, China Futures Association and Futures Exchange has been initially formed, the behaviors of futures market participants have been gradually standardized, the market management and risk control capabilities of futures exchanges have been continuously enhanced, futures investors have become more mature and rational, and the standardization of the whole market has been greatly improved.

In the process of rectification, the trading volume of China's futures market dropped sharply, but since 2000, the futures market has gradually stepped out of the trough. At present, Shanghai Futures Exchange has become the largest copper futures trading center in Asia and the second in the world. In 2003, the turnover reached11662900 tons, which increased by more than 50 times in 10. In 2003, the trading volume of soybean futures varieties in Dalian Commodity Exchange reached 2,865,438+880,000 tons, making it the first soybean futures trading center in Asia and the second in the world, second only to CBOT in the United States.

On June 365438+1October 3 1 day, 2004, the state issued "Several Opinions on Promoting the Reform, Opening-up and Stable Development of the Capital Market", clearly proposing the steady development of the futures market, and the policy on the futures market has also changed from normative rectification to steady development. Securities companies and listed companies have participated in futures companies one after another, which makes the futures industry get new capital inflows. New varieties such as rice and stock index futures will also be launched soon. As an important financial tool to find prices and avoid risks, the futures market will play an irreplaceable role in the development of modern market economy in China when China joins WTO and integrates into the international economic family.