China has committed to further opening up its financial market and embracing international norms to give foreign traders new opportunities. One breakthrough is the establishment of the Shanghai crude futures contract earlier this year. It's the first commodity futures contract in China to invite participation by foreign traders. In today's episode of Beyond the Wall, our correspondent Han Bin looks at China's futures market amid the trade tensions with the United States. He's given rare access to the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, or INE, to learn about the yuan-dollar competition.

To keep China moving requires high energy, mainly from oil. If supply can't meet demand, the economy could stall. With its own reserves dwindling, China has to rely heavily on imports, steering it into competition with others. Sinopec is one of the country's leading oil and gas companies. Assistant Manager Peng Yi says their business is closely linked with oil supply.

PENG YI, ASSISTANT MANAGER SINOPEC SHANGHAI PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY LIMITED "The international oil price and security situation will cause fluctuations in the crude oil supply. The international supply directly affects the company's interests, though the internal structural optimization and supply rationalization can also play a big role."

Peng Yi's company has upgraded its facilities for better efficiency. Most of the oil is now coming from the Middle East. Sinopec wants to lock in stable sources at the best price. And China's oil futures contracts become the new choice. In March, futures contracts started trading on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange.

WANG XIAOJIONG, CEO BOC INTERNATIONAL FUTURES LIMITED "China has brought in foreign investors, allowing them to trade in onshore crude oil futures. It has guaranteed operations on internationalization of transaction, settlement and delivery."

Experts say a yuan-denominated oil futures contract could be a historic game changer.

HAN BIN SHANGHAI FUTURES EXCHANGE "China surpassed the US as the world's biggest oil importer in 2017. Amid its increasing reliance on imported oil, The introduction of the crude futures contracts is being viewed as a significant move by Beijing to exercise its pricing power."

Wang Xiaojiong says China's futures market has been growing rapidly. It has launched several contracts, including steel, iron ore and copper. All have become liquidity benchmarks. The futures contracts for "black gold", which set the global energy price, could help China ensure energy security.

WANG XIAOJIONG, CEO BOC INTERNATIONAL FUTURES LIMITED "Our futures contracts will certainly be able to gradually develop into a new market in the next three to five years, with a certain pricing power in the Asia-Pacific region."

China has been prudent to liberalize its financial market. J.P. Morgan's Rochelle Wei says, with its commitment to opening up, the country has to provide a bigger role for the RMB as an international currency.

ROCHELLE WEI, CEO J.P. MORGAN "With the introduction of INE crude oil futures, the denominated RMB is actually providing an important hedge instrument to industry players."

Crude oil futures are a new battlefield between the yuan and the dollar. It's a test of how far China can go in the next round of reforms. And what's the mindset change is in market liberalization. The two dominant benchmarks, are Brent in the UK and West Texas Intermediate in the US.

ROCHELLE WEI, CEO J.P. MORGAN "With the improvement of liquidity INE crude oil futures, they will play more and more important role in influencing the global oil markets. Over the longer term, there's a potential that the INE's crude oil futures could be a viable reference for global fiscal contracts on the oil markets."

PENG YI, ASSISTANT MANAGER SINOPEC SHANGHAI PETROCHEMICAL COMPANY LIMITED "Petroleum products are in short supply, especially in winter. The national energy consumption may have a blowout demand. At that time, it is more necessary for the oil companies to adjust their industrial structure and production, to better meet the needs of the market."

As China wants to break the energy shortage bottleneck, competition is likely to be inevitable. The ideal solution is shared interests in a win-win situation. The question is: Does China have a choice? Han Bin, CGTN, Shanghai.