Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency: Hong Kong is promoting the development of the gold market at the right time, seizing the opportunity to build an international gold trading center.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Investment Promotion Bureau stated that the growth potential of the gold market is increasingly evident. In the second quarter of 2025, global total gold demand increased by 45% year-on-year in value, reaching $132 billion; at the same time, global official gold reserves increased by 166 tons, representing central banks of various countries continuously viewing gold as a stable asset cornerstone. As gold is recognized globally as a stable asset with dual attributes of physical commodity and financial investment, it aligns well with Hong Kong's positioning as an international financial center, thus becoming an important direction for Hong Kong's policy deployment. In terms of establishing a specialized group, as an international financial center, Hong Kong has a unique advantage in providing a secure and stable environment for the development of international gold trading, and can inject new vitality into related industries such as storage, insurance, trade, and logistics. Therefore, the Hong Kong government has specifically established the "Gold Market Development Task Force" to work closely with regulatory agencies, exchanges, and industry representatives to conduct in-depth research on feasible development strategies and lay the foundation for the implementation of relevant policies. In terms of expanding storage capacity, the Hong Kong Airport Authority has already increased the storage capacity of the precious metal storage facility at Hong Kong International Airport by one-third to 200 metric tons, and will continue to expand in stages to 1,000 metric tons as planned, greatly supporting and facilitating spot gold trading, delivery, and storage in Hong Kong to meet the continuous growth in market demand. In terms of strengthening cooperation with mainland China, the Shanghai Gold Exchange launched its designated warehouse for the international board in Hong Kong in June this year and introduced gold contracts with Hong Kong as the delivery location. This is the first time that the Shanghai Gold Exchange has established a delivery warehouse overseas, which is of great significance as it not only provides international investors with trading options priced in Renminbi and settled overseas, but also further consolidates Hong Kong's position as a core hub in the offshore Renminbi market. With the increasing global demand for gold, Hong Kong has seized the opportunity and has proposed in the "2025 Policy Address" to accelerate the development of the gold trading market, continuing to steadily advance towards the goal of building an international gold trading center: Continuously promote the Hong Kong Airport Authority and financial institutions to expand gold storage in Hong Kong, aiming to exceed 2,000 tons in capacity within three years to build a regional hub for gold reserves; Encourage gold suppliers to establish or expand refineries in Hong Kong, and collaborate with mainland China to process incoming materials in mainland China, refine gold for export to Hong Kong for trading and delivery purposes; Establish a central gold clearing system in Hong Kong to provide efficient and reliable clearing services for international standard gold trading, while inviting the Shanghai Gold Exchange to participate in the construction and prepare for future connectivity with the mainland Chinese market; Continue to enrich gold investment tools, assist issuers in issuing gold funds, encourage the development of new products such as tokenized gold investment products, etc.; Support the industry in establishing a gold industry association, establish a platform for communication with the Hong Kong government and regulatory agencies, strengthen promotion and attract "Belt and Road" customers, and enhance talent training.