China Opens Nickel and Lithium Futures to Foreign Investors

China is letting foreign investors buy and sell nickel and lithium futures, which are like special contracts for these metals.

This is part of China's plan to have more say in setting global prices for these important materials.

Nickel and lithium are very important for making batteries, which are used in things like electric cars.

China is the biggest buyer of these materials, but the prices are usually set in places like London and New York.

By allowing foreign investors to trade these futures, China hopes to make its own financial markets more important and to make its currency, the yuan, more popular around the world.

This is not the first time China has tried to do this, but previous attempts with other metals like copper and oil haven't been very successful.