BEIJING - Turnover on China's futures market hit 31.6 trillion yuan ($5.02 trillion) during the first quarter of 2012, a year-on-year decrease of 5.9 percent.

Data from the China Futures Association showed that more than 197 million transactions took place on the country's futures market from January to March, down 16.48 percent from the previous year.

Commodity futures trading slowed during the first quarter, while stock index futures transactions rose, the association said in a statement on its website.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange, one of China's four major futures markets, saw turnover of 10.3 trillion yuan during the first quarter, up 18.35 percent year-on-year.

Established in 1999, the Shanghai market deals in commodities such as copper, aluminum, rubber and fuel oil.

The Dalian Commodity Exchange, the nation's largest futures market for agricultural goods, saw its transaction value fall 16.13 percent to 3.19 trillion yuan.

Turnover for the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange added up to 2.55 trillion yuan, down 74.14 percent year-on-year, while turnover for the China Financial Futures Exchange climbed 38.72 percent to 15.58 trillion yuan.