Aerial photo taken on Nov. 21, 2019 shows a vessel transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) approaching a LNG wharf at Caofeidian port in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province. According to the Caofeidian Port logistics park management committee, the LNG receiving stations have safely unloaded 18.48 million tons of LNG since it went into operation in 2013. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

China's liquid petroleum gas (LPG) futures were listed and began trading on the Dalian Commodity Exchange on Monday, with LPG options trading set to begin on Tuesday. It is the first time the derivatives will debut nearly simultaneously on a Chinese commodity exchange.

The move comes as China has garnered rising influence on price setting for big-item commodities, and as the country is expected to help the investors to hedge risks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said the futures market created mask and disinfectant options during the pandemic, reflecting the futures market's responsibility. The LPG futures listing will provide effective risk management tools for China's energy industry.

Listed contracts include PG2011, PG2012, PG2101, PG2102 and PG2103, with the benchmark price set at 2,600 yuan ($366.50) per ton, according to the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

The price of PG2011, the most active LPG contract, stands at 2,396 yuan per ton as of noon on Monday, down 7.8 percent. 

Sources say the LPG futures and options listings came at an appropriate time when the COVID-19 pandemic is raging across the globe. They provide a new tool for LPG enterprises to resume business, hedge risks and safeguard the entire industrial chain during the pandemic.

With China's LPG demand increasing, consumption has continued to rise in recent years. Apparent LPG consumption hit 47.06 million tons in 2019, accounting for about 14 percent of total global LPG consumption. 

China, the world's largest LPG consumer and importer, imported 20.68 million tons of LPG in 2019, mainly from the Middle East, with an import dependency rate of 44 percent. China's LPG output in 2019 ranked third globally after the US and Saudi Arabia, with a total production of  27.79 million tons.