BEIJING -- China, the world's top rice producer and consumer, will start trading Japonica rice futures on Nov 18 on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), the exchange center said on Tuesday.

ZCE has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on launching the futures contracts.

The benchmark price for Japonica rice contracts will be set at 3,050 yuan per ton, said the exchange center, which has already listed early rice futures.

China has sped up development of commodity futures markets to offer companies more tools to hedge risks while trying to have a bigger say in the pricing of major commodities in the global market.

The country's Japonica rice output stood at 64.44 million tonnes in 2012, accounting for 31.5 percent of China's total rice production.

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