Online bourse for electronic components trading debuts

The first online exchange in China for electronic components started trading on Monday, recording cumulative transactions of more than 100 million yuan ($16.2 million).

Shenzhen Huaqiang Industry Co, the holding company that runs one of the world's biggest electronic markets in the southern city that borders Hong Kong, and four other companies have set up the online platform with an initial investment of 100 million yuan.

"The exchange will account for 1 percent of all the spot electronic component transactions done in a year in China and the figure will rise to 10 percent by 2030," Miu Xiang, general manager of the exchange, told China Daily.

The exchange anticipates that the total sales of electronic components in China will reach 3.8 trillion yuan in 2016 and cross 6.47 trillion yuan by 2030.

After sampling 1,000 major shops at Huaqiangbei, where the electronic market is located, the sales at this area alone hit about 170 billion yuan in 2013, which is expected to surpass 200 billion yuan next year, according to Miu.

Based on the actual trading figures, the exchange has selected 1,100 most popular types of electronic components for trading and will charge each seller 0.04 percent of the total sales value as commission, the company said.

The trading list is expected to include raw materials for the electronics industry and finished electronics products when the exchange matures, Miu said.

He said the exchange, which mainly serves the domestic market, will play a more important role in the import and export of electronics products, which are currently dominated by companies from Hong Kong, starting next year.

"The main problem is the cross-border settlements and clearance. We are seeking solutions with financial institutes and the customs and probably, we will make progress next year," he said.

Cheng Yimu, executive chairman of Shenzhen E-commence Association, said the online exchange would pose huge challenges to traditional transactions and prompt the industry to upgrade its services and business mode.

"Shenzhen is the best location for the exchange given the active trading," Cheng said. "It is an innovation in terms of financial settlement, shipment, warehouses, logistics and other financial services, which is good to the industry."