China plans to establish two or three national exchanges for coal trading, according to a document released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on May 15.<br /> <br /> These exchanges should be located close to main production and consumption areas, railways and key transfer ports, and able to connect with coal-related futures markets, said the document.<br /> <br /> This indicates that relevant standards for spot transactions at these exchanges would be close or even identical to futures contract standards, and meanwhile gradually develop toward general practices in the international market, analysts said.<br /> <br /> And, the transaction volume of a national coal exchange should be at least 200 million tonnes per annum, according to the document.<br /> <br /> <p> Meanwhile, regional and local trading exchanges should be actively developed as a supplement to the national exchange, with annual transaction volume of more than 10 million tonnes and 2 million tonnes, respectively, it said. </p> <p style="text-align:center;"> <img src="/upfiles/news/image/20140523/20140523162703_7727.jpg" alt="" /> </p>