Wall Street Journal | China Targets Commodity Prices by Stepping Into Futures Markets

The trading floor of the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange is deceptively sleepy for one of the world's busiest futures markets; it trades electronically. With the fastest-growing major economy in the world and a huge commodity appetite, China has turned to its futures markets to augment a broader and sometimes rocky global resources scramble.

ZHENGZHOU, China -October 12, 2009- Chinese leaders are concerned that their nation's enormous economic expansion is becoming an excuse for foreign suppliers to inflate commodity costs. So, they hope to use their three futures exchanges to fight back.

Government officials say the country is positioning its futures markets to be major players in setting world prices for metal, energy and farm commodities. By letting the world know how much its companies and investors think goods are worth, China hopes to be less at the mercy of markets elsewhere......