(Yicai Global) Dec. 16 -- China's first mainland stock index option will start trading on the China Financial Futures Exchange on Dec. 23. Tied to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchange-based CSI 300 Index, the minimum account threshold is CNY500,000 (USD71,500).

The types of contract available include call and put options, which are based on the price movements of other financial products, and the contract multiplier is CNY100 (USD14.30) per point, according to rules released by the Shanghai-based exchange on Dec. 14.

As of midday today, the option's contract value was CNY396,793 calculated on 3,967.93 points.

The CSI 300 Index options will provide six-month contracts, including those for the next three months and those for the following three, the CFFE said. Contracts are issued on the last month of each quarter. Those signed in the third quarter can be valid for the longest period of a year. In this way, the exchange can meet investors' demands for different timeframes and appetites for risk, it added.

The CSI 300 Index options will be the seventh financial derivative product listed on the CFFE, and only the fourth risk management hedging tool for the mainland stock market. Previous options included CSI 300 Stock Index futures, CSI Smallcap 500 Index futures and SSE 50 Index futures.

Set up in 2005, the CSI 300 Index spans 300 large-capital blue-chip stocks with strong liquidity in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets. It accounts for most of the entire market's value and covers various industries with balanced weightings and is widely used as a cross-market index, facilitating transparent and efficient cross-market arbitrage and risk management for investors.

The index has grown by almost 31.8 percent so far this year, compared with a gain of 39.3 percent in the Shenzhen Component Index and a 19.1 percent increase in the Shanghai Composite Index.