A year and half after it was established in September 2014, the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) has launched the first yuan-denominated gold benchmark price. The launch ceremony was held at the Shanghai International Convention Center on April 19, 2016. Pan Gongsheng, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhao Wen, Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipal Government and over 300 delegates including the World Gold Council, The Silver Institute and major domestic and foreign gold producers as well as consumers and investment institutions attended the ceremony.

Pan Gongsheng stated that the launch of the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price is a key innovation in the opening-up of China’s financial market to global economic integration.

Jiao Jinpu, chairman of Shanghai Gold Exchange pointed out that the launch of the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price is a significant milestone in the internationalisation of China’s gold market. It is also an important step for the SGE to become a world leading precious metal exchange.

The SGE is responsible for system development and operation maintenance of the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price Trading platform. The SGE is also in charge of the supervision and regulation of the trading process to avoid any price manipulation to ensure fairness. At the ceremony, the SGE announced the list of 12 Fixing Members and 6 Reference Price Members, along with 18 international consultants. The first Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price was set at 256.92 RMB/g.

Mr Aram Shishmanian, CEO of World Gold Council stated: “The launch of the Shanghai Gold Benchmark, offering a local reference price for gold in the local currency, represents another milestone both in the impressive development of the exchange and in the internationalisation of China’s gold industry. It is a stepping stone to a new multi-axis trading market consisting of London, New York and Shanghai and signals the continuing shift in demand from West to East. The World Gold Council continues to support the development of China’s gold market, and as the market expands to reflect the growing interest in gold by Chinese consumers, so too will China’s influence increase on the global gold market .”

Roland Wang, Managing Director, China for the World Gold Council remarked “China needs a gold benchmark that reflects local market flows and reduces gold’s price dependency on the US dollar – so this is the ideal time for the Shanghai Gold Benchmark to launch. An Asian-focused, yuan-denominated benchmark will significantly increase the liquidity and efficiency of the gold price discovery mechanism. The World Gold Council is honoured to witness this historic moment and the anticipated benefits it will bring to China and the global gold market.”