We are launching new CNH/USD futures and options contracts on February 23, 2026, pending regulatory review. At the same time, our existing USD/CNH contracts will be delisted once all open interest has been settled.

  Back to Top

Both the new CNH/USD futures and the existing USD/CNH futures are based on the offshore Chinese renminbi, CNH. The new CNH/USD futures are based on a fixed amount of CNH, with prices quoted in U.S. dollars, and will be physically deliverable if held to maturity.

  Back to Top

With prices quoted in U.S. dollars, margining and mark-to-market payments will also be calculated in U.S. dollars, making this contract more accessible to a wider range of global market participants.  

The new contract will be physically deliverable if taken to final settlement, consistent with the major FX futures contracts listed by CME Group. This also aligns the contract with OTC spot and forward markets for CNH.

  Back to Top

China’s currency is known as the renminbi, which is often shortened to RMB, and can be translated as “people’s currency.” The unit of measure of the renminbi is the yuan.  

China places controls on the movement of renminbi into and out of China, leading to two distinct markets for the currency - domestic and offshore. CNY is the official currency code for renminbi. The code CNH refers specifically to offshore renminbi, and is the reference used by many global institutions and traders outside of mainland China. CNY is used as the SWIFT code for both domestic and offshore renminbi.

We also list CNY/USD cash-settled futures and options on the domestic exchange rate, these are unaffected by the new CNH/USD contracts.

  Back to Top

Both monthly and Weekly options will be available on the new CNH/USD futures. Monthly options will expire on the second Friday before the third Wednesday of the month. Weekly options will expire on Friday.  

The options will be European style and expire at 3:00 p.m. Tokyo time (known as “TOK cut”). They will be auto-exercised with reference to a CNH/USD futures fixing price set by CME Group, and will deliver into the underlying quarterly futures contract if in-the-money at expiry.

  Back to Top

CNH/USD futures will have a contract size of CNH 500,000, equivalent to approximately USD 70,000 at the time of writing.

Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars per CNH. The minimum price increment for futures on Globex will be $0.00001 per CNH, equal to $5.00 per contract. The price increment for calendar spreads will be $0.000005 per CNH, with a value of $2.50. Block and EFRP trades submitted to ClearPort can be priced with increments of $0.000001 per CNH, with a value of $0.50.

Specifications for all our FX futures and options contracts can be found in the FX Product Guide.    

  Back to Top

Trading hours for CNH/USD futures and options will be the standard trading hours for FX contracts. Trading on Globex is available 23 hours per day, starting at 5:00 p.m. Chicago time on Sunday, which is 6:00 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. on Monday in Hong Kong (depending on whether daylight savings apply in Chicago).

  Back to Top

CNH/USD futures will be made available for five quarterly contracts on the March, June, September, December cycle. Options will be listed with 12 monthly contracts and four Friday Weekly contracts.

  Back to Top

The new CNH/USD futures contracts will be physically deliverable. If held to maturity, holders of long positions will receive CNH in exchange for U.S. dollars. Holders of short positions will deliver CNH and receive U.S. dollars. Delivery is managed by CME Clearing.

  Back to Top

Yes, exchange for physical (EFP) trades can be submitted to CME Group via ClearPort. The futures will also be eligible for “immediately offsetting” EFPs. Find out more about the process for transacting and submitting EFPs.

  Back to Top

Yes. The minimum size for a block transaction in the futures contract is 20 lots, and for the options contract is 50 lots. Block trades can be submitted to CME Group via ClearPort, and must be submitted within 15 minutes of completing the transaction. Find out more about the process for transacting and submitting block trades.

  Back to Top

Yes, FX Link will be available for CNH/USD futures. FX Link is spread trade between our FX futures and OTC spot FX.  

Market pricing for FX Link follows the prevailing OTC convention, which means CNH FX Link will be quoted in CNH per U.S. dollar (USD/CNH).

  Back to Top

We intend to include CNH on FX Spot+ in the future. The pricing convention for CNH on FX Spot+ will be USD/CNH, consistent with the wider OTC spot market.

  Back to Top

Margin requirements are determined by CME Clearing and reviewed frequently. Margins for CNH/USD contracts will be set in U.S. dollars. Margin credits are available for offsetting positions held in CNH/USD products and certain other FX and Commodity products. Explore the latest margin requirements and available offsets.  

While set as a U.S. dollar value, CME Clearing accepts a wide range of currencies and other collateral against initial margin requirements.

  Back to Top

The product code for futures on Globex and ClearPort is 6H. The product code for options on Globex and Clearport are 6H (monthlies) and CF1-5 (Weeklies).

  Back to Top

CNH/USD futures and/or options can be executed in the same way as your current trading mechanism for all our FX futures and/or options products. This could be directly through your own platforms, third party platforms, such as Bloomberg etc., or CME Direct, or via an execution broker or block/EFP liquidity provider.

If you are new to our FX futures products, please contact our FX team to help you get started.

  Back to Top

For further inquiries, please contact a member of our FX team at fxteam@cmegroup.com.

  Back to Top