Xu Zhengyu: The establishment of the Hong Kong Bullion Clearing Company will help expand the influence of the Hong Kong gold market in the Asian time zone.

Recently, Hong Kong and Shanghai signed a cooperation agreement to establish the Hong Kong Gold Settlement Company. The Chairman of the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau of Hong Kong, Christopher Hui, stated that currently the global gold pricing power is mainly dominated by the UK, the US, and China. He believes that the Hong Kong gold market had a certain foundation before the 1980s and has the conditions to regain its past advantages, and through cooperation with Shanghai, expand its influence in the Asian time zone. He pointed out that the Shanghai Gold Exchange has achieved good results in global pricing and is actively expanding internationalization. Previously, they have set up a submit warehouse in Hong Kong. He believes that cooperation can make good use of each other's expertise and systems, further enhancing the acceptance and participation of the overall gold market in Hong Kong. He mentioned that gold is an internationalized product with strong commonalities, and believes that cooperation can strengthen the "Chinese voice" in the gold market, leveraging Hong Kong's advantages in financial development, and also enhancing the role of the Renminbi in internationalization. He mentioned that the Hong Kong airport is currently expanding its gold vault capacity from 200 tons to 1,000 tons, with a goal to increase the overall gold storage in Hong Kong to over 2,000 tons within 3 years, and hopes to stimulate other financial and professional service demand, including financing, insurance, trading, and settlement. He mentioned that financial services account for about one-quarter of Hong Kong's local GDP. He mentioned that the London Metal Exchange recognized Hong Kong as a delivery port for non-ferrous metals. Within just 1 year, 15 storage facilities have been set up in Hong Kong, storing approximately 20,000 tons of copper, aluminum, and other non-ferrous metals. In addition, after the announcement of developing the gold market in the policy address, Swiss precious metal refining company MKS PAMP set up its third regional headquarters in Hong Kong, believing that developing the gold market can create different opportunities within the storage value chain, as well as benefiting cross-value chain businesses such as asset management and family offices.