China's stock index futures trade is expected to begin in mid-April, preceded by a pilot program for margin trading and short selling of shares, official media quoted China's top securities regulator as saying.
Shang Fulin, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, added that the launch of an international board for the listing of foreign companies was also actively under study, the Securities Times reported on Friday.
China has been pushing ahead with long-awaited stock market reforms to deepen its financial markets and eventually build Shanghai into a global financial centre.
