In recent years, the pace of "internationalization" of the futures market has been accelerating, and opening to the outside world has become a hot topic in the development of China's futures market, which puts forward higher requirements for domestic futures operators. 

As the first domestic A-share listed futures company, Nanhua Futures has always implemented an international development strategy. Since 2006, Nanhua Futures has set up locations in Hong Kong to start the journey of internationalization. After more than ten years of development, Nanhua Futures’s overseas subsidiaries have spread across major overseas futures trading areas, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and won the title of ZCE's 2020 International Market Service Excellent Member.

Implement International Development Strategy

Nanhua Futures has always placed the international business in an important position with a cutting-edge vision. To seize the business development opportunities brought by the internationalization of the futures market, Nanhua Futures has made arrangements in advance. 

As early as 2006, the China Securities Regulatory Commission allowed domestic futures companies to set up branches in Hong Kong. Nanhua Futures caught the change and became one of the first six futures companies. Henghua International Capital Co., Ltd., which is wholly-owned by Nanhua Futures, was approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission to operate Hong Kong and international futures business in Hong Kong in June 2007, and officially opened on September 5 of the same year. Besides, Nanhua Futures has established second-generation members in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom to help customers in more than 20 countries and regions including Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Australia. After more than ten years of development, the overseas subsidiaries of Nanhua Futures have spread all over the major overseas futures trading areas.

"In addition to helping domestic customers 'going out,' Nanhua Futures also actively deployed overseas customers to 'bring in' to promote the diversified development of domestic market entities. To develop consulting services and expand media channels, Nanhua Futures launched an English website and provided foreign investors with English information related to international business through various overseas mainstream social media." said Li Lingfang(Lily), head of the International Department of Nanhua Futures.

In recent years, Nanhua Futures has been accelerating the pace of "going out" and opening up overseas markets with the advantages of RMB internationalization. Nanhua Futures has now completed its strategic layout in four important international financial centers in Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. According to reports, the subsidiaries of Nanhua Futures have obtained the qualifications of overseas brokerage institutions of Shanghai International Energy Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, and Dalian Commodity Exchange. Overseas clients can freely choose the most convenient Nanhua branch to open a futures account to participate in China's domestic futures trading. At the same time, Nanhua has 23 membership qualifications in major exchanges around the world, which provides great convenience for investors to carry out cross-market arbitrage. In the future, the company will strive to improve its service capabilities for foreign investors.

Besides, Nanhua Futures relies on the resources accumulated overseas to establish a communication mechanism between corporate customers and exchanges and financial institutions to broaden their horizons in international business. For example, CII (Chicago Institute of Investment), a subsidiary of Nanhua Futures U.S., has successively carried out business options training and other businesses to make better use of financial derivatives to serve companies.

"Nanhua Futures' global layout has been completed, laying the foundation for the company's 24-hour uninterrupted operation. At the same time, each subsidiary has achieved complementary advantages and coordinated development, and achieved customer flow and mutual transformation." Lily said.

Develop Overseas Business by Multiple Models

"In 2020, although the epidemic has increased the difficulty of cross-market customer development and on-site visits, we fine-tuned our overseas expansion strategy when the epidemic first appeared at the beginning of the year." Lily said,” We made full use of a variety of online conference platforms to cooperate with exchanges to promote international products in an online form.”

 In August 2020, the PTA International Network Promotion Conference co-organized by Nanhua Futures and Zhengzhou Commercial and Commercial Exchange received a great market response. Many guests introduced the progress of ZCE's commodity futures internationalization in recent years and explained the cross-market arbitrage possibilities of PTA varieties to the participants. "Through the form of co-organizing online meetings with the exchange, foreign investors interested in international products can have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding without leaving their rooms," Lily said.

In addition to Online Webinars, Nanhua Futures has multiple practicing of cultivating the market, such as filling in English website with English investment and construction materials; conducting inter-institutional exchange and cooperation; introducing familiar overseas trading tools such as CQG, TT, and EPolestar; developing two second-generation intermediary members; serving clients to take international deliver.

Insist on being driven by technology

Nanhua Futures has always adhered to technology-driven international business, firmly grasped the core of technical services, and embarked on a technologically independent development route. After years of accumulation, Nanhua Futures currently has outstanding advantages in terms of varieties, licenses, and services.

"We can serve our clients with 23 overseas futures exchanges, more than 800 overseas futures varieties, spreads, and options electronic trading. At the same time, we also support the access of 4 domestic futures exchanges to place orders on the client-side, providing investors with a trading platform with unified internal and external transactions, complete functions, and comprehensive varieties. Besides, our license advantages have also been helping us a lot. For example, Nanhua UK can conduct transactions and clear credit for customers, and the relevant credit services provided by the company can help customers improve the efficiency in the use of funds, significantly reduce the cost of customer’s risk management." Lily said.

Nanhua Futures also laid out clearing channels in advance. Nanhua Futures has successfully obtained clearing membership qualifications from mainstream exchanges such as CME, ICE, LME, etc. so far so that clients can operate their funds within their system.

In the future, Nanhua Futures will continue to focus on independent development, constantly innovate hardware and software technology to meet customer needs. As China's financial markets continue to open to the world, Nanhua China will respond positively to the policy call, focusing on the development of QFII and overseas institutions.