Zhejiang Mercantile Exchange, China's first national bulk commodities resource allocation hub, marked its first anniversary of operation in East China's Zhejiang province.

Marking the one-year milestone since its official unveiling on Dec 4, 2024, the hub, located in Zhoushan, has rebranded and shifted from a single-product oil and gas marketplace to a diversified platform covering steel, nonferrous metals, rubber, and coal.

The platform has replicated mature oil and gas trading mechanisms across new categories, attracting subsidiaries of leading industrial enterprises. As of Dec 9, the total trading value exceeded 420 billion yuan ($60 billion), and cumulative volume surpassed 100 million metric tons.

Pricing influence has become a key area of progress, with the platform introducing a renminbi-denominated seller quotation for bonded low-sulfur marine fuel in collaboration with domestic futures markets, reducing reliance on overseas benchmarks. Additional indices launched this year include biodiesel storage prices, green electricity certificate quotations, and regional liquefied natural gas trucking rates.

Innovation has also extended to governance and research, with risk monitoring tools based on data analytics being deployed to strengthen compliance as the hub continues to scale.

For the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), Zhejiang Mercantile Exchange will continue to expand trading categories and the index system, explore the upgrading of intelligent supervision and risk-prevention systems, and drive development through both compliance and innovation.