On March 19, Shanghai International Energy Trading Center signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Bank of China in Beijing. They expressed their hope to achieve the center’s strategic goal of building an internationalized energy trading platform through comprehensive strategic partnership based on their respective business characteristics and competitive edge and make joint efforts to drive the open-up and function improvement of China’s futures market and the sound development of investment environment, so as to serve both China’s oil industry and the global oil economy. This is the first time Shanghai International Energy Trading Center has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with a commercial bank.

Present at the signing ceremony were Liu Nengyuan, President of the Shanghai Futures Exchange and Vice-chairman of Shanghai International Energy Trading Center, Yue Yi, Vice-president of Bank of China, Chu Juehai, President of Shanghai International Energy Trading Center and Cheng Jun, General Manager of Trade and Finance Department of Bank of China.

According to the cooperation agreement, Shanghai International Energy Trading Center and Bank of China will focus not only on professional collaboration and services with respect to both foreign and domestic transaction, settlement, risk management, and investment and financing in futures market, but also on vigorous exploration and innovative cooperation by fully taking their respective professional advantages in their business fields like international marketing, product innovation, collaborative training and research exchange, so as to jointly press forward with energy futures trading and financial services.

The deepened cooperation between Shanghai International Energy Trading Center and Bank of China, on the one hand is to provide strong financial support for establishment of the internationalized energy trading platform, which is especially evidenced by the following facts: the launch of crude oil futures will lead to the full-scale introduction of overseas investors; the diversified business platform and integrated domestic and overseas operation advantages of Bank of China will contribute significantly to expansion in the scale of global market investors and in the influence and popularity of the energy trading platform in overseas markets. On the other hand, the building of the internationalized platform will substantially propel the rapid growth of derivative business across China’s banking industry. The introduction of global investors will urge the banking industry to continuously expand its business network platform to provide clients with global financial services and thus promote the internationalization of China’s banking industry constantly.

Supposed to undertake the building of international crude oil futures platform, Shanghai International Energy Trading Center was established in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone on November 22, 2013. It is understood that the center is actively preparing itself for the listing of crude oil futures according to the fundamental framework of “International platform, Net Price Trading, Bonded Delivery” by pushing ahead with the institutional arrangement and rule design for crude oil futures contract, trading, settlement and international market investor entry which will be announced to the whole market when the supporting policies and measures of the state are rolled out.

As one of the oldest banks in China, Bank of China has had a diversified financial business platform. With its extensive institutional networks across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and 37 countries and regions, it is also the most internationalized commercial bank in China.