Regulator relaxes rules on stock index futures

China's securities regulator has relaxed the trading rules for stock index futures, signaling a gradual exit by the regulator from the harsh restrictions imposed during the market rout in 2015, analysts said on Friday.

The measures include lowering trading fees and raising the maximum daily trading cap at 10 contracts to 20 per investor. The minimum margin requirement for trading on the CSI 300 and SSE 50 index futures was also reduced from 40 percent to 20 percent of the contract value, according to a statement by the China Financial Futures Exchange on Thursday.

The relaxation reflected the regulator's desire to gradually restore the market function as a risk-hedging tool which was almost killed off in 2015 by a series of restrictive measures taken by the regulator to stem a market rout, analysts said.