(Yicai Global) April 25 -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange to begin trading jujube futures from the end of this month.

The benchmark price for the first batch of contracts will be CNY8,600 (USD1,280) a ton, the bourse said in a statement yesterday. The trading margin standard will be 7 percent and the futures will only be available during daytime trading hours at first.

Jujubes, also known as red dates or Chinese dates, are a specialty in the Chinese market and their production and sales affects millions of farmers. The country has been ramping up output in recent years, but largely unstable prices affect agriculture firms' ability and desire to produce more.

Running futures contracts for the commodity will provide price discovery and risk management tools that can help stabilize and promote healthy growth of the sector, CSRC spokesman Chang Depeng said previously. This will better serve the nation's poverty alleviation strategy and economic and social development in Xinjiang, he added.

The minimum trading unit will be five tons and the contract tick size will be CNY5 (74 US cents) per ton, according to a previous statement from the ZCE.

Editor: James Boynton