BEIJING -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission is mapping out regulations to standardize the upcoming trade of stock index futures, a brand new risk hedging tool in China, Xinhua learned on Tuesday.

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"It is possible we will launch the trading of stock index futures early next year as scheduled, " said Jiang Yang, the CSRC assistant chairman. He did not give the details of the regulations.

Simulation trading was started in October to test the trading system at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange, he noted.

"All problems we detected are being fixed," Jiang said, adding that the simulation trade has seen a daily trade volume of more than 200,000 hands.

More financial futures derivatives will be developed after the futures index is launched, he said. "We will leave the markets to decide which is the next product to come onto the market."

Jiang said that the commission would encourage institutional investors to invest in stock index futures because they have a better control of risks than individual investors and enjoy sounder financial standings.

However, the commission is still undecided on which kinds of institutional investors should be granted the qualifications, he said.

Currently investors can only profit when the index is going up. With the introduction of index futures, investors will be able to make money when the index falls.

China Financial Futures Exchange, the country's first financial derivatives exchange, was inaugurated on September 8.