China debuted its first polysilicon futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange on Thursday.
The total volume of trading reached 32.855 billion yuan (about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday morning.
Polysilicon options contracts will be added on Friday.
China is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of polysilicon.
Polysilicon is a key material for the photovoltaic industry.
Price fluctuation for polysilicon reached 280 percent in China in 2023.
The Guangzhou Futures Exchange is offering seven polysilicon futures contracts.
The benchmark listing price for the futures was 38,600 yuan per metric ton.
At 09:00 upon opening, the main polysilicon futures contract surged by as much as 13.99 percent, hitting the upper limit at 44,000 yuan per metric ton.
The momentum then weakened, with the increase narrowing to around 7 percent, and prices stabilizing at approximately 41,000 yuan per metric ton.
"The polysilicon futures are able to provide long-term price signals and risk management tool for relevant enterprises, help enterprises with reasonable planning of production capacity layout and arrangements of production and operation, guide the industry in optimizing resource allocation, resisting risks of price fluctuations, and stabilizing production and operation, and enhance the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains," said Chen Ruigang, an official of Guangzhou Futures Exchange.
China's first polysilicon futures debut
China's Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed railway officially entered service on Thursday,linking the financial hub of Shanghai with the historic cities of Suzhou and Huzhou in a major boost to regional connectivity.
The high-speed railway has a designed speed of 350 km per hour and spans 164 km, connecting Shanghai Hongqiao Station with Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province and Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province. The railway has eight stations, providing convenient access to major cities and towns along the route.
This is the first high-speed railway connecting the three major economic hubs of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta, according to Chen Guoquan, the railway project designer from China Railway Construction Corporation.
Residents are excited about the operation as the new high-speed railway is expected to significantly reduce travel times and improve connectivity between the three cities.
"We're in Huzhou city. It's so convenient for us to travel by high-speed train to Shanghai. It's good for people like us, so I'm very delighted," said a passenger.
"We have several places to visit. All the four people are excited. They all arrived early," said another passenger.
Before this new train service, the journey between Huzhou and Shanghai took about two hours. Now, it only takes around 50 minutes.
With the new railway, the operating length of the railway network in the Yangtze River Delta region has surpassed 15,000 km, over half of which is high-speed rail.
Along the railway, high-end industries are expected to cluster, further accelerating the high-quality development of the economic belt, according to Zhang Zhipeng, associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou high-speed rail line starts operation
