Hong Kong and Shanghai Gold Exchanges Sign Agreement to Enhance Market Cooperation

2026-01-26 10:10 Last Updated At：21:13

FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong's gold market

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) signed today (January 26) a co-operation agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange during the Asian Financial Forum, marking a new milestone in deepening co-operation between the gold markets of Hong Kong and Shanghai. The FSTB also revealed new moves in six aspects relating to the development of gold market at the same time.

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Photo source: reference image

Mr Christopher Hui, Photo source: news.gov.hk

FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong's gold market Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images

FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong's gold market Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images

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Photo source: reference image

Mr Christopher Hui, Photo source: news.gov.hk

FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong's gold market Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images

FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange sign co-operation agreement to foster high-quality development of Hong Kong's gold market Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images

The agreement was signed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (SFST), Mr Christopher Hui, and the Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, Mr Yu Wenjian, in the presence of the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee; the Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, Mr Zou Lan; Member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shanghai Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Mr Wu Wei; and the Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Financial Commission of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr Zhou Xiaoquan.

Mr Hui also outlined the strategic significance of the agreement and the overall development blueprint for Hong Kong's gold market at the signing ceremony. He said, "Gold has long been regarded as a cornerstone of the global financial system. Its unique physical attributes, inherent scarcity, and proven safe-haven function make it irreplaceable in areas such as national reserves, asset allocation and diversification. In recent years, amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and ongoing restructuring of the international monetary system, the strategic importance of gold has become even more pronounced. The agreement signed by the FSTB and Shanghai Gold Exchange represents a resolute commitment to translating the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference, advancing quality financial opening into concrete action while fostering synergistic development of Hong Kong and Shanghai as premier international financial and gold markets."

This significant agreement covers two major forward-looking areas of co-operation:

1. Establishing a high-level, collaborative governance structure for Hong Kong's new gold central clearing system. The Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company Limited, which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, will have its Board chaired by the SFST while a representative from the Shanghai Gold Exchange will serve as Deputy Chairman. The representative of the Shanghai Gold Exchange will actively participate in the Board, contributing to the preparation of the system, the formulation of rules, the admission of participating institutions, and the provision of expert advice on system design, risk management and other areas. Shanghai and Hong Kong will work together to promote the efficient development of the clearing system and its alignment with international standards.

2. Opening new avenues for physical infrastructure synergy and market interconnectivity. The two sides will explore leveraging the Shanghai Gold Exchange's well-established physical warehousing management regime to provide secure gold management services for participants in both Hong Kong and international markets. The two sides aim to drive greater connectivity between on-exchange and off-exchange gold trading activities. The two sides will forge ahead broader mutual market access by exploring the provision of business convenience and technical alignment to investors from two places through the Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company Limited and key participants in the emerging Hong Kong gold trading ecosystem, thereby creating a truly integrated, efficient and open ecosystem.

Mr Hui further elaborated on the Government's vision and supporting measures for Hong Kong's gold market development. They are:

1. Supporting the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) and financial institutions in establishing gold storage facilities, with a target to exceed 2,000 tonnes of storage capacity within three years, making Hong Kong a trusted global vault. The AAHK has launched a project to expand warehousing to a thousand-tonne scale, catering to local storage, delivery and transit requirements.

2. The FSTB has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, laying the foundation for processing trade co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The next step is to welcome Hong Kong gold traders to engage in substantive co-operation with qualified Shenzhen refining enterprises.

3. Hong Kong's government-owned central clearing system for gold is on track to begin trial operations this year.

4. For the preferential tax regimes offered to funds and single family offices, the Government will propose including precious metals as qualifying investments. The target is to introduce the legislative proposal in the first half of this year.

5. This week, a new gold fund will list in Hong Kong. Its key features include leveraging Hong Kong's well-established gold infrastructure for physical gold trading and storage, with the option of physical gold redemption at bank. Also, the issuer plans to introduce an unlisted share class for potential distribution through licensed digital asset exchanges, bridging traditional and digital finance.

6. The release of an outlook by market participants on the development of Hong Kong's sustainable gold governance framework and standards at the gold-themed session of the Asian Financial Forum, with a view to fostering sustainable sourcing, environmental protection, and long-term responsibility standards.

Mr Hui stressed, "The signing of this agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange marks the dawn of a new chapter—one in which Hong Kong and Shanghai join forces to shape the future of global gold markets. Let us embrace this historic opportunity to build stronger bridges, ignite innovation and create enduring value for investors and economies alike."

Financial Secretary Emphasizes Innovation, Inclusivity, and AI in CUHK EMBA Conference Speech

Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference

Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the CUHK EMBA Annual Conference today (May 9):

Professor Dennis Lo (Vice-Chancellor and President, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)), Professor Lin Zhou (Dean, CUHK Business School), Macy (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Ms Macy Chan), Michael (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Mr Michael Chan), CUHK EMBA alumni and students, business leaders, distinguished guests and friends,

Good evening.

Addressing a room full of Executive MBA students and graduates is both an honour and a privilege. There is a particular kind of ambition in this room — one that is not content with success alone, but driven to understand it more deeply, in the belief that better ideas lead to greater impact.

That kind of commitment — to learning, to growth, to asking harder questions — is precisely what today's conversation is about.

The theme of this conference, which focuses on innovation and agile leadership, could not be more timely. Most of us here have lived through the Internet age and the smartphone revolution, which made communication faster and more seamless than anyone had imagined.

Today, the rise of AI places us at a more fundamental tipping point. Technology is not merely changing the answers — it is redefining the questions themselves.

Consider what is already within reach. An AI assistant can learn your preferences, curate a personalised shortlist, and simply ask for your confirmation. We should even ask whether the smartphone and the search engine will remain our primary gateways to the digital world, or whether something altogether new is already taking shape.

To draw an analogy, the power of technology does not lie in drawing the old map with greater precision. It lies in revealing how much of that map remains uncharted — and in showing us that entirely new maps, with new co-ordinates, are being drawn.

This redefinition is unfolding across three dimensions simultaneously.

First, the redefinition of products. Products are no longer discrete, standalone objects. A smart car is a vehicle, but also a mobile platform for data. An insurance policy can be a contract, but equally a dynamic reflection of health data. Innovation today is born from cross-sector convergence and continuous evolution.

Second, the redefinition of services. Services are no longer delivered solely by enterprises. They emerge from collaborative networks of people and AI. But the more profound shift is in what customers now expect. In the past, good service meant reaching the right person quickly. Today, customers expect a solution that anticipates their needs before articulating them. This requires a new architecture of service delivery: human and machine, with AI handling the scale, the speed, and the personalisation that no human team alone could sustain.

Third, and most importantly, the redefinition of business models. In the past, we sought optimal solutions within established frameworks — when demand rose, we expanded capacity; when service needs grew, we opened more branches. Technology invites us to break out of those frameworks entirely. Intelligent manufacturing means that "economies of scale" is no longer the only answer; flexible supply chains have made customised, on-demand production the new normal.

These three redefinitions are opening a commercial frontier unlike anything we have seen before. But if the benefits of technology accrue only to a small circle, its power remains fundamentally constrained. This brings me to the second message I want to leave with you today: inclusivity.

Inclusivity is not charity. Yet it is the smartest business strategy available. The unmet needs of the broader public represent the largest and most underserved market opportunity in existence. When you make quality healthcare, education and financial services accessible and affordable to ordinary residents, you are not serving a group in need of handouts — you are unlocking a vast market that traditional business models have consistently overlooked.

Hong Kong has a distinctive role to play here. We can be a co-architect of standards, a hub for capital, and a bridge between innovation and real-world deployment — from clinical validation of smart healthcare, to green technology financing, to regulatory sandboxes for fintech. Our contribution draws not only on institutional strengths and international networks, but on our genuine commitment to broad-based participation.

Yet inclusive products and services are only the first step. The deeper dimension is empowerment.

History reminds us that the dividends of technological revolution need to be actively guided to reach the many. In the age of steam, and again in the Internet era, early gains concentrated among capital owners and top-tier talent. But today we have the opportunity to write a different story. AI, as an amplifier of human capability, is already enabling what was previously unimaginable: a solo entrepreneur, with the right tools and the right vision, can build a unicorn.

In other words, the unit of competitive advantage is shifting — from the size of your team to the skill with which you orchestrate your tools.

Our mission should be to make that shift available to everyone. To turn individual readiness into collective prosperity, and to ensure that the productivity gains of AI flow broadly across the society.

This is precisely why, in this year's Budget, I placed such emphasis on the "AI Training for All" initiative.

We are not trying to turn everyone into an engineer. We are ensuring that workers, managers, SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) owners, and ordinary residents become capable collaborators with AI: people who can access it, use it effectively, and put it to work as their assistant.

That may sound ambitious, but consider this: if AI can one day be as intuitive as the smartphone, then mass adoption is not difficult to imagine at all. Just as computers once migrated from specialist facilities into offices and homes, AI will find its way into everyone's daily work and life.

For business leaders, it may be tempting to think of AI as "digital employee" that can replace existing workers. But think of a different framing: equipping your workforce with powerful digital assistants can achieve productivity gains, while also freeing your people to do what humans do best — create, imagine and innovate.

Companies that take those extra steps, and think those extra moves ahead, will find that an empowered workforce is also a more innovative one.

All in all, the power of technology must ultimately be measured by its contribution to inclusive growth. And inclusive growth, in the end, depends on, yes, commercial acumen — but also empathy, compassion, and the conviction that a rising tide should lift all boats. I can see that those qualities live in this room.

I will close with this thought. Someone once joked that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. With AI, let us never fall into the same trap — in our race to price every efficiency gain, let us not lose sight of the deeper value we are trying to create: a society where the fruits of innovation are broadly shared, and where technology lifts not just the fortunate few, but everyone willing to reach for it.

So here is my ask: let us grow the pie together. And make sure we cut it well.

Thank you very much.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Gold Exchanges Sign Agreement to Enhance Market Cooperation