Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China will introduce stock index futures ``soon'' to give investors tools to hedge market risks, Zhou Qinye, executive vice president of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said in a conference in the city today.

China wants to use stock index futures to allow investors to short sell a domestic stock market that has gained 178 percent this year. Short selling the benchmark CSI 300 Index will allow traders to profit on an index decline by selling contracts of the index they don't own and buying them at a lower price later.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luo Jun in Shanghai at jluo@bloomberg.netYidi Zhao in Beijing at at yzhao7@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 31, 2007 21:40 EDT