Three Chinese brokerage arms - Yongan Futures, Orient Futures and Guotai Junan Futures - are preparing applications to become members of the London Metal Exchange (LME), according to sources familiar with the matter. If successful, the moves would enlarge China's footprint on the world's largest venue for trading industrial metal contracts and reflect a broader push by Chinese firms to capture more revenue from metals derivatives and to expand overseas.
Only six of the exchange's more than 40 clearing members - entities that clear and settle trades - are Chinese, leaving the world's top metals consumer under-represented in the LME's clearing cohort. Increasing the number of Chinese clearing members would shift a greater slice of transaction-related revenue toward Chinese firms, sources said.
One source indicated Guotai Junan Futures is already in the process of applying for LME membership. Two sources said Orient Futures also plans to apply, though they added the timetable for that step remains unclear. Hangzhou-based Yongan is preparing its own membership application after creating a United Kingdom entity last year, according to four sources who requested anonymity because the plan is not yet public.
All three brokerages are established participants on China’s main metals trading venue, the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and each has opened subsidiaries in Singapore over the past decade as part of their international expansion efforts.
Yongan's UK push and an experienced hire
Yongan's British arm, trading as Yongan International Financial (UK), recently recruited Zhang Wei to lead the UK operation and to steer the firm through the LME approval process, sources said. Company registration documents show Zhang was appointed as a director in April. Zhang's background includes roles at a Chinese LME member, GF Financial Markets in London, and at China Merchants Securities, which resigned its LME membership in early 2021 after six years.
Attempts to reach Zhang were unsuccessful. Yongan did not respond to a request for comment. Orient Futures and Guotai Junan also did not respond to requests for comment.
On an interactive investor platform earlier this month, Yongan said it was applying for a regulatory licence from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and was establishing "a solid foundation for legal and compliant operations in the UK and European markets." Two sources described that licence application as a precursor to an LME membership filing, though the company did not explicitly reference the exchange.
Yongan added: "In the future, leveraging the advantages of London as an international financial centre and collaborating with resources in Hong Kong and Singapore, we aim to become a leading cross-border integrated financial services provider."
Market context and recent approvals
The LME is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and reported record futures trading volumes of 183.3 million contracts last year, up 7.7% from 2024. However, much of that activity has been routed through non-Chinese clearing members, which collect fees on every trade.
CLSA UK, which is owned by China’s CITIC Securities, was approved as an LME member last month and is scheduled to begin trading on Monday, indicating continued momentum for Chinese-linked entities seeking direct access to LME markets.
An LME spokesperson said: "As the world’s largest industrial metals producer and consumer, China is fundamental to the global metals market and represents significant activity in the LME market," and declined to comment on specific membership applications.