(Adopted at the 21th meeting of the 8th Board of Governors on December 2, 2024; issued by Announcement [2025] No.2 on January 6, 2025;effective as of the date of promulgation.)

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 These Rules are made in accordance with the Trading Rules of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange for the purposes of ensuring the normal conduct of delivery activities for commodity futures at the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (the “Exchange”) and regulating the management of standard warehouse receipts.

Article 2 The issuance, negotiation, cancellation, and other processes of standard warehouse receipts for the commodity futures contracts listed on the Exchange are governed by these Rules.

Article 3 The Exchange, Members, clients, overseas brokers, delivery warehouses, factory warehouses, Designated Quality Inspection Agencies, relevant banks, and other participants of transactions involving standard warehouse receipts shall comply with these Rules.

Chapter 2 General Rules

Article 4 A “standard warehouse receipt” refers to a document of title that is registered at the Exchange by a delivery warehouse or factory warehouse in accordance with the procedures of the Exchange and certifies its holder’s ownership of the physicals or entitles the holder to pick up (i.e., take delivery of) the physicals.

Standard warehouse receipts are classified by registrants into standard delivery warehouse receipts and standard factory warehouse receipts, by scope of negotiation into general standard warehouse receipts and non-general standard warehouse receipts, and by duty payment status of the underlying commodity into bonded standard warehouse receipts and duty-paid standard warehouse receipts. The particular types of standard warehouse receipts applicable to each product are set out in the product-specific rules.

Article 5 A “general standard warehouse receipt” refers to a document of title that entitles its holder to pick up, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Exchange, of the specified product at any delivery warehouse or factory warehouse holding that product.

Information specified on a general standard warehouse receipt includes the Member code, Member name, the client’s trading code, product, number of standard warehouse receipt it represents, number of standard warehouse receipt frozen, and number of standard warehouse receipt used as margin.

Article 6 A “non-general standard warehouse receipt” refers to a document of title that entitles its holder to pick up, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Exchange, of the specified product only at the specified delivery warehouse or factory warehouse holding that product.

Information specified on a non-general standard warehouse receipt includes the Member code, Member name, the client’s trading code, product, number of standard warehouse receipts, delivery warehouse or factory warehouse, time of inspection, serial number of the non-general standard warehouse receipt, number of standard warehouse receipt frozen, and number of standard warehouse receipt used as margin.

Article 7 A standard warehouse receipt is valid as of the day it is registered at the Exchange. Once registered, a standard warehouse receipt may be transferred or used in delivery, load-out, as margin, and for any other purposes prescribed by the Exchange.

The validity period of a standard warehouse receipt is set out in the product-specific rules.

Article 8 Any Member or client that intends to pledge a standard warehouse receipt at a bank or another third party as security shall complete the pledge registration procedures at the Exchange. Any standard warehouse receipt without such a registration shall not be binding on other Members, clients, or any other third parties.

Article 9 A delivery warehouse or factory warehouse is liable to the holders of standard warehouse receipts for the quality and quantity of the commodities covered by such receipts. The rights and risks of the commodities are transferred accordingly when the standard warehouse receipts are negotiated or transferred.

Chapter 3 Creation of Standard Warehouse Receipts

Section 1 Creation of Standard Delivery Warehouse Receipts

Article 10 A standard delivery warehouse receipt is created following declaration of delivery intention, load-in acceptance, quality inspection, request for registration by delivery warehouse, and registration by the Exchange.

Article 11 Before a registrant of standard warehouse receipt ships commodities to a delivery warehouse, its carrying Member shall make a declaration by filling out the Delivery Intention and notifying the delivery warehouse in writing or by other means recognized by the Exchange.

Where a large quantity is indicated in a delivery intention, the Exchange may require the registrant to furnish the ownership certificate for the relevant commodities. Contingent on market conditions, the Exchange may require a delivery warehouse to approve delivery intentions involving contracts that will expire in recent months ahead of other delivery intentions.

Article 12 Within two (2) business days after receiving the Delivery Intention from a Member, a delivery warehouse shall notify the Member, in writing or by other means recognized by the Exchange, of the quantity it is able to accept.

Article 13 Within two (2) business days after receiving the consent for load-in from a delivery warehouse, the Member shall pay a load-in deposit to the delivery warehouse. The amount of load-in deposit is set out in the product-specific rules.

On the day of receiving the load-in deposit or, if it is not a business day, on the first business day thereafter, the delivery warehouse shall issue the Load-in Notice.

Article 14 For any request to register standard warehouse receipts for commodities already stored at a delivery warehouse, the Delivery Intention is still required but the load-in deposit is exempted.

Article 15 A Load-in Notice is effective as of the day it is issued, and valid for such duration as set out in the product-specific rules. The Exchange has the right to adjust the validity period of Load-in Notices in view of market conditions.

Article 16 The load-in deposit is fully refunded within two (2) business days of the completion of load-in if commodities of the indicated quantity all arrived at the delivery warehouse within the validity period of the Load-in Notice, is refunded proportionately if only a portion of the commodities actually arrived at the delivery warehouse, and is not refunded for any portion of the commodities that did not arrive at the delivery warehouse.

Article 17 If the Exchange announces a suspension of load-in at a delivery warehouse, then starting from market close in the afternoon of the day of the announcement, any delivery intention subsequently declared to the delivery warehouse is deemed invalid and the Exchange will no longer accept any request to register standard delivery warehouse receipts for the relevant commodities.

Article 18 Registrants of standard warehouse receipts shall pay all relevant fees to delivery warehouses in accordance with the rules of the Exchange.

Article 19 After declaring its delivery intention but before shipping the commodities to the delivery warehouse, a registrant shall notify the delivery warehouse of the means of shipping, truck (ship) number, shipment quantity, time of arrival, and other pertinent information.

Article 20 Commodities shall be subject to inspection or acceptance with respect to their quality, weight, packaging, and documentations at the time of load-in, the specifics of which are governed by the product-specific rules.

Upon completing the load-in quality inspection, the inspection agency shall upload the inspection report to the Exchange’s e-receipt system through a digitally validated process. Where the inspection is conducted by a Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the inspection report shall be mailed to the delivery warehouse in a timely manner or picked up by the delivery warehouse itself. If more urgency is needed by the registrant or delivery warehouse, the Designated Quality Inspection Agency may inform it of the inspection results before the report becomes available.

Article 21 Within one (1) business day after the inspection results are issued by or received from a Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the delivery warehouse shall confirm the inspection results and notify the registrant. Where the commodities meet the quality specifications for deliverables and no objection is raised by the registrant, the delivery warehouse shall submit a registration request to the Exchange within two (2) business days after such notification to the registrant. The Exchange registers the standard delivery warehouse receipts within seven (7) business days from the day of request.

Article 22 Starting from 3 p.m. of the Last Trading Day of a contract, the Exchange no longer accepts any request to register standard warehouse receipts for delivery against the contract in the current month. The standard warehouse receipts registered and created after 3 p.m. may participate in the delivery against contracts of the subsequent months.

Registration request for any commodity exempted by the Exchange from quality inspection shall be submitted on the day before the Last Trading Day of the relevant contract at the latest.

Section 2 Creation of Standard Factory Warehouse Receipts

Article 23 A standard factory warehouse receipt is created following request for registration by a factory warehouse and registration by the Exchange.

Article 24 After a Non-Futures Brokerage Member or client settles delivery payment and other charges with a factory warehouse, the factory warehouse may request for registering its standard warehouse receipts via the Exchange’s e-receipt system.

Article 25 A factory warehouse shall, at the time of registration, provide security such as a bank guarantee letter, banker’s acceptance, or cash recognized by the Exchange or other forms of security recognized by the Exchange.

The value of security provided by a factory warehouse is calculated based on the settlement price of the preceding trading day for the relevant nearby contract.

Article 26 A factory warehouse shall submit the registration request no later than 3 p.m. of the third trading day preceding the Last Trading Day of the relevant contract. Where the security provided by the factory warehouse is satisfactory, the Exchange will register the standard warehouse receipts within three (3) business days from the day of request.

Article 27 The maximum number of standard warehouse receipts registerable by a factory warehouse is determined by the Exchange, and may be adjusted in view of market conditions.

Article 28 In the event that a commodity shows large movements in market value, the Exchange may, in view of market changes, require a factory warehouse to adjust the amount of guarantee provided by its bank guarantee letter, banker’s acceptance, cash, or other forms of security recognized by the Exchange.

Chapter 4 Negotiation of Standard Warehouse Receipts

Article 29 “Negotiation” in relation to a standard warehouse receipt refers to its delivery and transfer.

Any standard warehouse receipt that is frozen or used as margin may not be negotiated.

The negotiation of a client’s standard warehouse receipts shall be handled by, and carried out through the Exchange in the name of, its carrying Member. The results of negotiation shall be borne by the client.

Article 30 Physical delivery with standard warehouse receipts shall be conducted in accordance with the Futures Delivery Rules of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and the product-specific rules.

Article 31 “Transfer” in relation to a standard warehouse receipt refers to the privately negotiated buying and selling of the warehouse receipt between Members. Upon agreeing to the transaction, the buying Member and the selling Member shall submit a transfer request to the Exchange. Such transfer requests are accepted before 2:30 p.m. each trading day.

Upon approving the transfer request, the Exchange will complete the transfer procedures for the standard warehouse receipt and payment. The transfer of payment and the issuance and receipt of the special/general VAT invoice are governed by the Futures Delivery Rules of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.

The rate of the warehouse receipt transfer fee will be separately announced by the Exchange.

Article 32 The transfer of bonded standard warehouse receipts shall be conducted in accordance with the product-specific rules.

Chapter 5 Cancellation of Standard Warehouse Receipts

Article 33 “Cancellation” in relation to a standard warehouse receipt refers to the process of taking delivery against the warehouse receipt through the Exchange, either directly by its holder or through its carrying Member.

Any client intending to cancel a standard warehouse receipt shall submit a cancellation request to the Exchange through its carrying Member.

Article 34 A holder of standard warehouse receipts shall complete the cancellation procedures before the warehouse receipts expire. Where the holder fails to do so, the Exchange is entitled to cancel them on their expiration date, without any guarantee that the commodities all conform to the relevant quality specifications, and any resulting losses shall be borne by the holder.

Article 35 Upon accepting a cancellation request, the Exchange will cancel the relevant standard warehouse receipts and issue a Pick-up Notice.

The pick-up person shall, within the validity period of the Pick-up Notice, complete the pick-up procedures at the relevant delivery warehouse or factory warehouse. The validity period of the Pick-up Notice, the specific procedures of pick-up, and the delivery and acceptance of commodities are set out in the product-specific rules.

A client shall set the verification code for the Pick-up Notice either personally or through its carrying Member before pick-up.

Article 36 Where pick-up is needed following the cancellation of a general standard warehouse receipt, the Exchange will determine the commodities corresponding to the Pick-up Notice in accordance with the Member’s request and the conditions at the delivery warehouse or factory warehouse.

Article 37 If within the validity period of the Pick-up Notice the pick-up person requests the Exchange for a quality re-inspection, then the validity period will be suspended from the day on which the Exchange receives the request, until the day on which the results of re-inspection are sent to the pick-up person.

Article 38 Where the pick-up person fails to complete the pick-up procedures before the Pick-up Notice expires, the Pick-up Notice will be treated as a pick-up form for spot commodities, without any guarantee from the delivery warehouse that such commodities all conform to the relevant quality specifications. A factory warehouse likewise no longer commits to the daily shipment volume and other duties under futures rules, and the arrangements for pick-up shall be jointly determined by the pick-up person and the factory warehouse.

Article 39 The cancellation of bonded standard warehouse receipts shall be conducted in accordance with the product-specific rules.

Chapter 6 Load-in and Load-out Re-inspection

Section 1 Load-in Re-inspection of Delivery Warehouse Commodities

Article 40 Where the registrant of standard warehouse receipts or the delivery warehouse disagrees with the results of load-in inspection, it shall, within three (3) business days after receiving the inspection results, submit a written request to the Exchange for re-inspection with the payment of the re-inspection fees in advance.

The registrant and delivery warehouse are deemed to have accepted the inspection results if no re-inspection request is submitted within the foregoing time limit.

Article 41 Re-inspection is limited in scope to the items objected to by the requester.

Article 42 For any commodities subject to the load-in inspection by a Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the re-inspection shall be conducted by the same Designated Quality Inspection Agency, but the Exchange may require it to replace the previous inspectors or assign additional inspectors. For any commodities subject to the load-in inspection by the delivery warehouse, the re-inspection agency shall be jointly determined by the registrant and delivery warehouse or, if no agreement can be reached, be designated by the Exchange.

The results of re-inspection will serve as the basis for dispute settlement.

Article 43 For any commodities for which the Exchange has designated a re-inspection agency, the samples for re-inspection shall be re-taken by the re-inspection agency with which the delivery warehouse shall cooperate. The re-inspection agency shall issue the re-inspection results within three (3) business days (which may be reasonably postponed if large quantity of samples are involved) after the completion of re-sampling and notify the Exchange of the results of re-inspection in writing, upon which the Exchange will notify the requester of the re-inspection.

For any commodities for which the re-inspection is conducted by the original Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the agency only needs to re-test the original samples it has kept; re-sampling is not needed. The agency shall complete the re-inspection within four (4) business days after receiving the re-inspection notice from the Exchange and shall notify the Exchange of the results of re-inspection in writing, upon which the Exchange will notify the requester of the re-inspection.

Where the rules for cotton yarn and dried jujube futures and other product-specific rules provide otherwise with regard to the completion time of the re-inspection, those provisions shall prevail.

Article 44 For any commodities for which the Exchange has designated a re-inspection agency, the related costs shall be borne by the requester if the results of re-inspection are consistent with the original inspection results of the delivery warehouse, and by the delivery warehouse if otherwise. Such costs include but are not limited to inspection fees, sampling fees, travel expenses, and transport fare.

For any commodities for which the re-inspection is conducted by the original Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the related costs shall be borne by the requester if the results of re-inspection are consistent with the original inspection results, and by the Designated Quality Inspection Agency if otherwise.

Article 45 Where the rules for cotton futures and other product-specific rules provide otherwise with regard to the load-in re-inspection of a delivery warehouse commodity, those provisions shall prevail.

Section 2 Load-out Re-inspection of Delivery Warehouse Commodities

Article 46 Any pick-up person that objects to the quality of the commodities for delivery may, within ten (10) business days after the Pick-up Notice is issued, request the Exchange for a one-time re-inspection and pay the re-inspection fees in advance.

The pick-up person is deemed to have accepted the quality of the commodities if no objection is raised within the foregoing time limit.

Article 47 The Exchange does not accept any re-inspection request that is late in its submission or is over the quality or quantity of commodities already loaded out, nor assumes any liability resulting from such non-acceptance.

Article 48 Re-inspection is limited in scope to the items objected to by the requester.

Article 49 For any commodities subject to the load-in inspection by the delivery warehouse, the load-out re-inspection agency shall be jointly determined by the pick-up person and the delivery warehouse or, if no agreement can be reached, be designated by the Exchange. For any commodities subject to the load-in inspection by a Designated Quality Inspection Agency, the load-out re-inspection agency shall be selected by the Exchange from the list of such agencies.

The results of re-inspection will serve as the basis for dispute settlement.

Article 50 The Exchange will notify the relevant delivery warehouse within two (2) business days after receiving a written request for re-inspection. Samples shall be re-taken by the re-inspection agency with the assistance of the delivery warehouse, and sealed after the acknowledgement thereof by the pick-up person, the delivery warehouse, and the re-inspection agency. The results of re-inspection will be sent by the Exchange to the relevant Member and the delivery warehouse.

Article 51 The re-inspection fees and related costs shall be borne by the requester if the results show that the commodities meet the Exchange’s standards for load-out, and by the party at fault if otherwise.

Article 52 Where re-inspection finds the commodities to be unfit for load-out, the relevant delivery warehouse, or the transferor and quality guarantor of the corresponding standard delivery warehouse receipt, may replace them with compliant product within the load-out period agreed by the parties or prescribed by the Exchange, which product the pick-up person must accept. Such replacement shall not affect the timely completion of the load-out procedures and any additional transport and inspection costs and other expenses arising from the replacement shall be borne by the delivery warehouse or by the transferor and quality guarantor. The load-out of the replacement product is governed by the product-specific rules.

Article 53 Where re-inspection finds the commodities to be unfit for load-out and the relevant delivery warehouse, or the transferor and quality guarantor of the corresponding standard warehouse receipt, fails to replace them with compliant product, the delivery warehouse or the transferor and quality guarantor may discuss a solution with the pick-up person. If no agreement can be reached, the following rules apply:

(1) The delivery warehouse or the transferor and quality guarantor shall re-condition the incompliant commodities in a timely manner until they meet the standards for load-out, and be additionally liable for compensation, where amount of compensation = the highest final settlement price of the corresponding product in the nearby month (yuan/metric ton) × quantity to be re-conditioned (metric ton) × 3%. Where the commodities meet the load-out standards after re-conditioning and the compensation has been paid, the pick-up person must accept the commodities.

(2) Where the commodities cannot be re-conditioned or still fail to meet the load-out standards after re-conditioning, the delivery warehouse or the transferor and quality guarantor shall be liable for liquidated damages, where amount of liquidated damages = the highest final settlement price of the corresponding product in the nearby month (yuan/metric ton) × quantity unfit for load-out (metric ton) × 120%. The incompliant commodities are properties of the delivery warehouse or of the transferor and quality guarantor after the payment of the liquidated damages.

Article 54 Where the rules for cotton futures and other product-specific rules provide otherwise with regard to the load-out re-inspection of a delivery warehouse commodity, those provisions shall prevail.

Section 3 Load-out Re-inspection of Factory Warehouse Commodities

Article 55 Where a pick-up person or factory warehouse objects to the weight or quality of the commodities for delivery, they shall jointly determine a solution; failing which, they may request the Exchange for a one-time re-inspection with the payment of the re-inspection fees in advance. Objection over weight shall be raised before load-out or during delivery. Objection over quality shall be raised within the time limit prescribed by the Exchange, which is set out in the product-specific rules.

The pick-up person and factory warehouse are deemed to have accepted the weight and quality of the commodities if no objection is raised within the prescribed time limit.

Article 56 The Exchange does not accept any request for weight or quality re-inspection that is late in its submission, nor assumes any liability resulting from such non-acceptance.

Article 57 Re-inspection is limited in scope to the items objected to by the requester. Where the rules for thermal coal futures and other product-specific rules provide otherwise with regard to the items in re-inspection, those provisions shall prevail.

Article 58 The re-inspection agency shall be jointly determined by the pick-up person and factory warehouse among the list of Designated Quality Inspection Agencies or, if no agreement can be reached, be designated by the Exchange.

The results of re-inspection will serve as the basis for dispute resolution.

Article 59 The re-inspection fees and related costs shall be borne by the requester if the results show that the commodities are fit for delivery, and by the factory warehouse if otherwise.

Article 60 Where re-inspection finds the commodities to be unfit for delivery, the factory warehouse and the pick-up person shall discuss a solution; failing which, the factory warehouse shall be liable for liquidated damages, where amount of liquidated damages = the highest final settlement price of the corresponding product in the nearby month (yuan/metric ton) × quantity found by re-inspection to be unfit for delivery (metric ton) × 120%. The corresponding commodities are properties of the factory warehouse after the payment of the liquidated damages.

Article 61 Where the rules for cotton yarn, apple, peanut kernel, and dried jujube futures and other product-specific rules provide otherwise with regard to the load-out re-inspection of a factory warehouse commodity, those provisions shall prevail.

Chapter 7 Supervision, Disputes, and Dispute Settlement

Article 62 The Exchange has the right to conduct spot checks on the commodities for delivery.

Any commodities failing the spot check will not be accepted for registration of standard warehouse receipts.

If any commodities already registered fail to pass the spot check for quality or quantity, the relevant delivery warehouse or factory warehouse, or the holder or quality guarantor of the corresponding standard warehouse receipt, will be required to make remedies, such as replacement with a sufficient quantity of compliant commodities, within a prescribed time limit, and bear any costs and losses arising therefrom. Any violation found will be handled in accordance with the Rules of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange on Violations.

Article 63 Any delivery dispute between the transferor and transferee (or pick-up person) of standard warehouse receipts or between a client and a delivery warehouse, factory warehouse, or quality guarantor shall be resolved through negotiation; failing which, they shall, within five (5) business days after the occurrence of the dispute, apply to the Exchange in writing for mediation. If the mediation is unsuccessful, they may lawfully refer the dispute to a people’s court or, where and as provided in the agreement between them, an arbitration institution for arbitration.

Article 64 In the event of a dispute over the quality or quantity of commodities at load-out, the Exchange will determine the responsible parties in accordance with these Rules and the relevant product-specific rules. The liabilities shall be finally borne by the parties determined to be responsible.

Article 65 Any delivery warehouse, factory warehouse, or the transferor and quality guarantor of standard warehouse receipts that incurs losses to a pick-up person for failing to deliver commodities meeting the load-out standards of the Exchange shall be liable for compensation. In the event that the delivery warehouse or factory warehouse is unable to pay such compensation, the Exchange will only assume supplementary liabilities for compensation with respect to the weight and quality of the commodities.

Chapter 8 Ancillary Provisions

Article 66 Any violation of these Rules will be handled in accordance with the Rules of Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange on Violations.

Article 67 The Exchange reserves the right to interpret these Rules.

Article 68 Where any product-specific rules contain provisions specific to that product, those provisions shall prevail.

Article 69 These Rules take effect on January 6, 2025.

(This English version is for reference ONLY. In case of any inconsistency between the different language versions, the Chinese version prevails.)