Shanghai may launch gold trading bourse in Q4

Shanghai may launch the international trading board for gold in the city's pilot free trade zone in the fourth quarter of the year, while gold consumption edged up 0.8 percent in China during the first quarter, local media reports said last week.

The new bullion trading board in the FTZ may attract foreign market players as China hopes to raise its influence on global gold prices. The FTZ may draw 1,000 tons of gold.

Physical gold consumption rose to 323 tons in the first quarter from a year earlier, local media reports said, citing Shanghai Gold Exchange data, the world's biggest market for physical bullion.

Xu Luode, secretary-general of the bourse, said earlier the international board will adopt Shanghai Gold, a spot gold trading mechanism similar to the Loco London Gold.