Currensee, the Hong Kong-based alternative investment service, has launched a China-focused foreign exchange offering that lets investors copy trades of professional forex traders.

The move comes as investors, while keen for exposure to high growth Asian economies like India and China, are growing increasingly wary of high volatility rocking their stock markets. 

The Trade Leaders Investment Program is based on the Currensee Forex social network of more than 8,000 forex traders who use the online social trading platform to trade currency, exchange advice, and share trades. Trade Leaders are those who compose the carefully selected traders who typically and consistently delivered returns of 33.5 per cent for the six months to 30 June 2011. Notably, three of the 14 Trade Leaders represented are from China. 

The service was first introduced in the UK in October 2010. The decision to open in China is in response to the growing interest for retail foreign exchange trading and investment in the country, the firm said in a statement. According to the Bank of International Settlements, the average daily foreign exchange trading activity in China reached $19.8 billion in April 2010, up 112.9 per cent from April 2007.

"With rapidly growing demand for retail currency trading and investment, and more than 450 million Internet users, China is undoubtedly an excellent market opportunity for us and a key part of our international plans," said Asaf Yigal, the co-founder and product vice president of Currensee.

The minimum investment is $3,000.