DUBAI, May 27 -- Bank of China and the Dubai Gold and Commodities exchange DGCX said here Wednesday they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the derivatives and financial markets of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China.

In a joint e-mailed statement, the two institutions said through the MoU they will exchange market information and industry best practices between the two institutions.

Gaurang Desai, the interim CEO of DGCX, said the agreement marked "another partnership that supports our efforts to create closer ties between the UAE and Chinese derivatives and financial markets."

Mr. Wu Shiqiang, general manager of financial institution department of Bank of China, said "through this MoU, we will be able to gain better insights into opportunities for partnerships with the UAE financial sector."

Bank of China is one of the top four Chinese banks. DGCX was founded in 2005 as the first internally compatible exchange in the Middle East as a 100 percent electronic trading platform for financial derivatives like options and future contracts, on commodities such as precious metals, agricultural goods, basic industrial materials and currencies.

Market participants and traders use derivatives to hedge themselves against current and anticipated future price fluctuations.

The MoU is one among a growing number of industry partnership agreements signed between the UAE and China in the last few years, both sides said.

In 2008, DGCX entered into a strategic partnership with the Shanghai futures exchange in order to develop joint products and guarantee a constant flow of information exchange. In late 2014, Nanhua Futures, a full member of the Shanghai futures exchange, joined the DGCX as a broker member. In the second half of 2015, DGCX plans to launch future contracts on the yuan, the Chinese currency. First quarter volumes on the DGCX grew 11 percent from the last quarter and increased eight percent year on year as more than 3.3 million contracts valued at over 97 billion U.S. dollars changed hands.

Bank of China offers a range of financial services to customers across the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and 39 other countries in commercial banking, including corporate banking, personal banking and financial markets services. The bank licensed in the Dubai financial free DIFC zone in December, 2012 where the top four Chinese lenders ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank run their Middle East headquarters.

Bilateral trade between China and the UAE, a major oil supplier, hit 175 billion dirham (47.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014 and surpassed India for the first time. Over 3,000 Chinese firms, among them major blue chip companies, run offices in Dubai. Approximately 300,000 Chinese nationals live in the UAE, a major oil supplier and according to the international monetary the most diversified Arab economy.