LME to set up warehouse in Shanghai free trade zone

Will be the first foreign exchange to do so.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top planning body, is considering allowing foreign exchanges to set up commodities warehouses in China’s free-trade zones

Sources said the London Metal Exchange, which is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, is widely expected to become the first foreign exchange allowed to assign warehouses in the newly approved free-trade zone in Shanghai.

LME is the futures exchange with the world's largest market in options, and futures contracts on base and other metals.

China formally approved the establishment of a free trade zone in Shanghai last week that will trial renminbi convertibility.