Without much coverage in the western world, probably because no one cares about gold right now, the Shanghai International Gold Exchange was launched last Thursday night. Along with this launch was also an English version of the rule book, describing every detail on the workings of the SGE and its brand new subsidiary the Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI).
At the opening ceremony of the SGEI Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the central bank of China, attended and spoke. This shows perfectly the different perception of gold in China over the US. Zhou’s comments at the opening ceremony were as follows.
“This event is a major milestone in China’s opening of its financial market to foreign investors.
…Our Premier Li Keqiang came to the Free Trade Zone this afternoon as a show of encouragement for the unveiling and launch of the International Board. He also invited Mayor Yang Xiong and I to attend the launch ceremony this evening to offer his congratulations, as well as to express his hope that the International Board be shaped into a marketplace with global influence
…Gold market is an important and integral part of China’s financial market. We are now the largest gold producer, as well as the biggest gold importer and consumer in the world. In recent years, the People’s Bank of China has taken to heart the national policies and guidelines on greater reform and opening-up of our entire financial sector, and made steady improvement to laws and regulations of the gold market, promoted its well-regulated growth and development, and was the main driver in transforming China’s gold market from a market for commodities into a market for financial products; from a market for purely spot trading to a market offering both spot and derivatives trading; and from a domestic market into an international one.
… the International Board will bolster China’s gold market toward greater trading volume and centralization, further highlight the price discovery function of the gold market…
…People’s Bank of China will continue to support the sustainable growth and sound development of the China’s gold market.“