The trading volume of China's futures market surged to 16.9 trillion yuan (US$2.1 trillion) in the first 10 months of this year, up 56.27 percent on last year, according to the latest statistics released by China Futures Association (CFA).

Trading volume totaled 1.56 trillion yuan in October, 60.08 percent higher than that of October of last year.

Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) contributed 58.41 percent of the country's total in October, with a trading volume of 913.4 billion yuan.

Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) reported a trading volume of 246.3 billion yuan and 404.2 billion yuan, respectively, in October, accounting for the rest of the country's total.

Both the ZCE and DCE trade agricultural products while the SHFE provides futures contracts on other commodities such as copper, aluminum and rubber.

The international futures markets have fluctuated markedly since October, especially for industrial commodities such as crude oil and metals. Agricultural commodities such as wheat, maize and soybeans have suffered supply shortages, leading to continuous price rises.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)