China has given approval to three futures brokerage firms to participate on overseas commodity exchanges under a trial program, Reuters reports, citing China Business News. The firms are Futures Co., China International Futures and Yong An Futures Co. The China Securities and Regulatory Commission is already in the process of outlining a series of rules for the brokerages’ overseas venture.

Under the program, firms will be able to take part in futures and derivative products offered on major overseas exchanges via the three designated brokers. The move will provide Chinese companies better channels to hedge against volatile commodity prices. The program will first aim to link up with CME Group’s Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange, as well as the London Metals Exchange.

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