ZHENGZHOU — Cotton yarn futures, the first commodity futures contracts launched in China since 2016, have entered trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) in central China's Henan province Friday.

Fluctuations in cotton yarn prices have a direct impact on the profit and cost of upstream and downstream firms in the textile industry, which is a pillar industry of the national economy. The new futures contract will help investors mitigate risks of price volatility by obligating them to buy or sell cotton yarn at a predetermined price at a specific time.

Cotton yarn futures, as well as cotton futures and PTA futures, have formed a relatively complete futures system for textile raw materials, demonstrating a step forward for ZCE to build a global textile products futures trading and pricing center, said Chen Huaping, director of the ZCE.

The ZCE has launched 17 types of futures and one variety of options, covering agriculture, energy, chemical engineering and building materials.