US market operator Nasdaq OMX and Chinese firm Dalian Commodity Exchange unveiled a partnership Monday to seek new business opportunities in China and globally.

The two companies pledged in a memorandum of understanding to "carry out extensive and in-depth cooperation in terms of visits, information sharing, trading technology, and consulting services," they said in a statement.

Liu Xingqiang, president and chief executive of Dalian Commodity Exchange, and Sandy Frucher, vice chairman of Nasdaq OMX, attended the signing ceremony in Taipei.

"Through exchanges and cooperation with NASDAQ OMX, DCE will be able to keep up with the latest trends of technology innovation in the global leading markets," Liu said.

DCE is one of the four futures exchanges under the administration and supervision of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the only futures exchange in Northeast China.

Among its listed futures products are soybeans, palm oil, polyvinyl chloride and coke.

For Nasdaq, the new partnership is expected to strengthen its connection with the Chinese market "to provide market participants with more investment opportunities and price risk management instruments," Nasdaq's Frucher said.

Nasdaq OMX, which operates 25 markets in the United States and Europe, says its technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging-market economies, powering 10 percent of the world's securities transactions.

Nasdaq OMX shares were up 0.4 percent in midday New York trade in an overall higher market.