Guangdong and Guangzhou will work to gain full support from the central government to reset up Guangzhou's futures exchange market, Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou Wu Yimin said during a forum of the development of Guangzhou futures business on Wednesday.

Mr. Leo Melamed, "Father of Futures", also addressed the forum.

Ripe time to set up the futures exchange

Guangzhou was one of the earliest cities that developed futures market in the country. China's first futures exchange agency launched in Guangzhou in September, 1992. The South China Merchandise Futures Exchange was set up in the city one year later in 1993.

The exchange closed due to the financial streamlining in 1996, for lack of experience and irregular practices.

Guangzhou has been gradually optimizing its market systems in recent years. In 2007, 6 futures companies of Guangzhou made a total transaction value of 2.56 trillion yuan (360 million USD), with 85% increase than the same period of last year, ranking 5th in China.

Abundant professional human resource is another strength for futures development here.

"Guangzhou Price" affects the domestic market price

Experts indicated that, Guangzhou has a big and developed market for bulk spot goods, especially for the raw and processed materials. "Guangzhou Price" has great influence on national markets.

Wu said, it is the ripe time for rebuilding the futures exchange as the city has gradually improved its laws and regulation system and strengthened the supervision on the business.