BEIJING — Overseas investors will soon have access to trade in palm oil futures contracts in China, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The trading of onshore palm oil futures contracts will open to foreign investors on Dec 22 this year on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), CSRC spokesperson Gao Li announced at a press briefing.

The futures will become China's seventh internationalized commodity futures product available to overseas investors, marking another step in the country's financial opening-up and increasing its pricing power in the global commodity market.

Palm oil futures contracts were listed on the DCE in 2007, and with over a decade's development, the exchange has developed into the world's largest trading platform for palm oil futures.

According to the DCE, China relies heavily on palm oil imports and is currently the world's second-largest importer and the third-largest consumer of the commodity.

In 2019, China consumed over 6.4 million metric tons of palm oil, data from the commodity exchange showed.