China made a surprise move by establishing its own oil pricing index that may be a rival to global Brent type and the U.S.'s raw crude oil pricing index. The new index will be implemented in October and experts deemed this as China's aim to have greater say on global crude oil prices in the long-term. Associate Professor Ahmet Göncü of Xi'an Jiatong Liverpool University said the index will represent China's demand for crude oil better than the current international pricing indexes. Stressing that China and Asia's crude oil demand is being priced by Brent type crude oil and since this new index will operate in Chinese yuan, China aims to increase both its power in determining the prices and also its own currency."The success of the index cannot be seen overnight. First, China will try to increase the liquidity and trading volume of the index. However, a few years are required for this index to become an international benchmark," Göncü said. He also said the success of the index can be evaluated by the trading volume and global acceptance.The petroleum products research manager of the consulting company Energy Aspects, Jit Yang Lim, also highlighted the fact that the investors will be able to securely trade using this index and without the involvement of the government. Stating that the Chinese government's intervention into the stock exchange is worrying foreign investors, Lim underscored that the principles of "independence and transparency" should be applied in order to motivate investors to purchase from the index. "At least 6 to 12 months are needed for investments to reach the required level," Lim said, adding that the trade on the index will either increase in time or will be unsuccessful due to lack of trading volume and investment.China had sent the draft to investors in the market in August for the new index, which will be traded in Shanghai's International Energy Market. China has the second-largest global crude oil consumption after the U.S.