ShanghaiDaily: Boost to Shanghai as shipping hub
SHANGHAI will introduce trading of more shipping derivatives and cargo indices as part of efforts to transform the city into a global shipping hub, a senior official of Shanghai Financial Services Office said yesterday.
Speaking at the Shanghai Shipping Exchange Forum, Fang Xinghai, the office director, said the city will encourage and support shippers and financial institutions to jointly set up funds to finance shipping activities.
Zhang Ye, president of Shanghai Shipping Exchange, told the forum that new dry bulk freight indices based on international shipping routes in the Far East will be launched in the second quarter of next year.
Trading of a new shipping rate derivative based on coastal coal freight rates started yesterday, allowing ship owners to avoid fluctuating freight rates through forward freight agreements. Launched by Shanghai Shipping Freight Exchange Co, the index will be based on routes from the northern port of Qinhuangdao to Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Fang said the government will also continue to back a two-year-old scheme to exempt business tax for companies offering shipping insurance services in Shanghai.
"Business tax exemption for shipping insurance companies has led to a rapid growth of shipping insurance in Shanghai," he said.
The insurance regulator last month approved Ping'an Insurance to set up a shipping insurance center in Shanghai.
In November, China Shipping (Group) Co, Guotai Junan Securities and two state companies in Shanghai established the first shipping fund of 50 billion yuan (US$7.89 billion).
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