BEIJING — The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has given the green light to the trading of peanut futures, an important oil crop.

Trading of the peanut futures will be launched on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange starting Feb 1, according to a statement on the CSRC's official website.

Trading of the peanut futures will help provide relevant farmers and enterprises with open, consistent, and transparent price signals and effective risk-management tools, and will boost the steady and sound operation of the sector, according to the statement.

The CSRC will ask the exchange to make all the necessary preparations to ensure the steady operation of the trading.