Tianjin cotton exchange market(tcem) was established in october 2003 with the approval of tianjin development & reform commission(tdrc) and the administration committee of tianjin port free trade zone(tpftz). tcem is a further extension of the former joyfair textile materials international with registered location still in tpftz and both its operation and management are under the supervision of two committees, namely the market administration committee and the market supervision committee. the former is jointly formed by tdrc and the administration committee of tpftz, the later by tianjin cotton association. the two committees are also responsible for coordinating relationships between tcem and various relevant sectors.

On January 1st, 2004,tianjin cotton exchange market co., ltd. was founded by shareholders of joyfair holding corp. (55% shares), tianjin investment group (35% shares) and tianjin tianbao holding corp(10% shares) to take charge of the routine business of tcem.

under the strategy of focusing on the imported cotton business to seek to establish a big-sized international spot supermarket, tcem aims to serve market participants in both domestic and the whole asian regions by linking with new york futures exchange and xinjiang cotton production base and taking advantage of its dominant geographical position and preferential policies of tpftz.

along with the gradual removal of quota on imported cotton, there is a tendency in that more and more enterprises tend to purchase imported cotton. it is hard for enterprises to be in their favor in contract negotiations with their overseas counterparts because of their limited volume of purchase, and it would be no easy for enterprises to assure themselves of the quality of the goods they intend to procure -- these are the areas in which tcem can be of assistance and make up the weaknesses in question. in addition, tcem can also work as a public boned warehouse for domestic spinning mills to relieve their funds pressure and to actively avoid any risks caused by the price fluctuation of imported cotton.

tcem can provide domestic market participants with series of services in terms of information consultation, quality inspection, customs clearance, cargo storage, logistics and financial assistance. tcem has shortened the international cotton purchasing period from the former 3 months to the present 3 days, which has made the sophisticated international cotton purchase process a simplified, direct and convenient spot trade.

with regard to the business varieties, tcem has engaged in, with cotton as its major line, wool, cashmere, flax, chemical fiber, cotton yarn, gray fabrics, various chemical dying, textile equipments and parts, to name a few of the categories.

in respect of the facility (hardware) construction, tcem is projected to successively build specialized warehouses, with capacities of 100,000 tonnes of cotton both within and outside tpftz.

concerning software construction, a web-based information platform is to be built by means of two systems(tcem network system and web-trading system)through which to widely attract both domestic and international merchants and customers into the functional marketplace.