Leung Hon-king of Invest Hong Kong highlighted that a portion of mainland China's gold procurement flows through Hong Kong. This positions Hong Kong to serve both the national real economy and leverage its substantial local market. With managed wealth amounting to $4.5 trillion, allocating even 10% to gold could significantly invigorate the local gold ecosystem.
"Hong Kong's development as an international gold hub focuses on two key directions. First, we must effectively serve the national real economy, a role Hong Kong has consistently fulfilled. Second, we must solidify Hong Kong's status as an international financial center," stated Leung Hon-king, Global Head of Financial Services, Technology, and Sustainable Development at Invest Hong Kong, in a recent dialogue. Leung is deeply involved in the global promotion, policy advocacy, enterprise facilitation, and cross-departmental coordination for Hong Kong's gold center.
In October 2024, Hong Kong announced the establishment of an international gold trading center. The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address indicated that Hong Kong's gold import and export volumes rank among the highest globally. Amid increasing geopolitical complexity, Hong Kong's advantages of a safe and stable environment have become more pronounced, attracting international gold spot storage. This development is driving the growth of gold trading, clearing, and settlement businesses, aiding Hong Kong in building a gold trading hub and fostering related industrial chains in investment trading, derivatives, insurance, warehousing, trade, and logistics services.
Over a year has passed since the announcement. On January 26, 2026, at the Asian Financial Forum, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange. The Shanghai Gold Exchange will participate in preparatory work for Hong Kong's central gold clearing system, including rule formulation, and provide professional advice on system development and risk management.
Furthermore, both parties will explore leveraging the Shanghai Gold Exchange's physical warehousing management system to provide storage services for gold businesses of local and international market participants in Hong Kong, and promote greater connectivity between the two gold markets.
At the same forum, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau announced other new developments for the gold market. Hong Kong aims to expand gold storage capacity at the airport and among financial institutions to over 2,000 tons within three years. Concurrently, the Bureau signed a memorandum with the Shenzhen Financial Regulatory Bureau to support cooperation between Hong Kong gold merchants and Shenzhen refineries in processing trade. Additionally, the Hong Kong central gold clearing system, managed by a wholly government-owned company, is scheduled for a trial operation within 2026.
Before joining the government, Leung Hon-king had a diverse private sector background as a serial tech entrepreneur, angel investor, and lecturer on Asian fintech. His first data-related startup was established through seed investment from Credit Suisse. His company provided services in wealth management, insurance, and personal finance to numerous world-renowned financial institutions. He previously served as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and KPMG, and as a venture capitalist at Innovate@, a tech fund co-operated by Booz Allen and Lehman Brothers.
Leung agrees that Hong Kong is currently in a favorable phase of "right timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony" for building an international gold trading center. "On the physical front, banks, non-banking institutions, and Hong Kong International Airport are all working to expand gold storage capacity, while logistics-related organizations are also scaling up their teams."
Leung stated that after achieving a certain scale in physical trading, the next step is to develop financial services. Given the high value of gold transactions, the market inevitably generates short-term financing needs. As the overall trading scale expands further, hedging demands will also emerge, such as futures trading and hedging transactions related to gold asset tokenization, which will gradually be developed.
Progress has already been made. In June 2025, the Shanghai Gold Exchange announced the activation of its first offshore gold delivery warehouse at Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited and simultaneously listed a gold contract deliverable in Hong Kong on its international board.
In 2026, Hong Kong's gold ETF products were successively launched: On January 29, the Hang Seng Gold ETF was listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, becoming the city's first ETF product that allows for physical gold redemption at banks; on April 21, Hong Kong's largest gold ETF, the CSOP Gold ETF, officially listed, supporting physical gold subscription and redemption, enabling trading and storage in Hong Kong. In May, Hong Kong's Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Joseph Chan, further revealed that HKEX is preparing to relaunch gold futures trading in the coming months.
"The functions of Invest Hong Kong include external communication to promote Hong Kong's gold policies, conveying concepts, progress, and business opportunities; providing comprehensive services for enterprises intending to establish a presence in Hong Kong, assisting their landing and integration into the local ecosystem; helping enterprises connect with banks and various parties in the industrial chain, facilitating cross-departmental coordination; and identifying gaps in the industrial chain, proactively seeking global industry leaders to fill these gaps and help build the ecosystem," Leung explained.
Gold Trading Spurs Financial Demand Q: Hong Kong is in a favorable phase of "right timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony" for building an international gold center. How are these three aspects reflected? Leung: Regarding timing, current geopolitical uncertainties have significantly increased. Gold, as a relatively stable store of value, plays a crucial role in hedging and asset allocation, attracting high attention. In recent years, a trend of diversifying risk through gold allocation has emerged, from sovereign wealth funds and central banks to institutional investors and the general public.
Regarding geographical advantage, Hong Kong serves as a bridge connecting East and West, playing a key role in global gold procurement, with some gold transshipped to the mainland via Hong Kong. Simultaneously, Hong Kong's wealth management business is well-developed. Hong Kong is already the world's second-largest cross-border wealth management center, with investors looking to use Hong Kong as a hub for asset allocation, including gold.
Regarding human harmony, Hong Kong allows free capital flow, has a simple tax system, and holds significant advantages over countries and regions with heavy taxation. Furthermore, Hong Kong has over 200,000 professionals in financial and related services, with ample reserves of professional institutions and talent, providing a solid foundation for future development.
Q: Both the national "15th Five-Year Plan" and the Hong Kong SAR Government's Policy Address have made specific arrangements for the development of Hong Kong's gold market. How is the implementation of related policies progressing? What substantive achievements have been made in areas like gold warehousing, refining, clearing, and product innovation? Leung: As a top-tier international financial center, Hong Kong highly values and embraces international rules in financial activities like gold trading, cooperating with institutions like banks while building platforms aligned with international standards. Currently, Hong Kong is developing a central clearing system, planned for official launch within 2026. This government-backed clearing system will reduce counterparty risk, enhance trading efficiency, and increase trading volume.
Additionally, we hope gold trading can align with the nation's further marketization. In early 2026, the Shanghai Gold Exchange and Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau signed a cooperation agreement involving the co-construction of the central gold clearing system and connectivity in physical warehousing collaboration. Previously, the Shanghai Gold Exchange International Board established an offshore delivery warehouse in Hong Kong in 2025. Looking ahead, Hong Kong needs to refine and stably operate the clearing system to achieve broader circulation with the Shanghai International Board.
Q: To further enhance its appeal and influence to global gold institutions and investors, what other measures will Hong Kong introduce in building an international gold financial center? What specific plans are there for attracting international gold trading, reserve, and custody businesses? Leung: On the physical front, parties including banks, non-banking institutions, and Hong Kong International Airport are already expanding gold storage capacity, with logistics-related organizations also scaling up their teams. After achieving a certain scale in physical trading, and given the high transaction amounts, the market will inevitably generate short-term financing needs; the next step is to develop financial services. As the overall scale expands, hedging demands will also arise, such as futures or hedging transactions related to gold asset tokenization, which will gradually be developed.
It's important to emphasize that not all aspects require government subsidies or construction. The Hong Kong SAR Government will assess the overall situation to determine which parts require government intervention. For example, the clearing system needs to be government-led as it requires government credit backing. For many other aspects, the market's own appeal is already high; the government's role is to coordinate to accelerate the progress of marketization efforts.
Q: Currently, the global gold market is primarily dominated by London and New York, with Singapore also accelerating its layout in the gold industry. Compared to these three competing regions, what are Hong Kong's core differentiated advantages and competitiveness? What impact will Hong Kong's entry have on the global gold market landscape? Leung: Traditional gold trading centers like London and New York have established widely accepted international rules. As an international financial center, Hong Kong attracts substantial overseas capital precisely because we operate in accordance with international standards. Hong Kong complements London and New York—Hong Kong's night trading hours correspond to their market openings, with time zone differences creating market衔接.
Due to different functional positioning, we do not consider Singapore a direct competitor. For Hong Kong, a portion of mainland China's gold procurement flows through Hong Kong. This allows us to serve the national real economy while also possessing a relatively large local market. Furthermore, the wealth managed in Hong Kong amounts to $4.5 trillion. If 10% of that were allocated to gold, the entire ecosystem would be quite active.
Q: How will Hong Kong's development of RMB-denominated gold products and promotion of cross-border gold circulation contribute to the internationalization of the RMB? Leung: The prerequisite for subscribing to RMB-denominated products is holding RMB. Why would investors be willing to hold RMB? One common reason is that enterprises from certain countries or regions settle trade with China in RMB. To incentivize more institutions or investors to hold RMB, the key is to create more usage scenarios. Recently, banks, including those with Chinese and international backgrounds, have launched several bonds with RMB as the underlying asset (e.g., RMB Dim Sum bonds), available for subscription by investors from other countries or regions. Additionally, exchanging RMB for gold represents another important usage scenario. Looking forward, more financial institutions are expected to introduce RMB-denominated gold products.
Three Key Functions to Boost the Gold Center Q: Hong Kong has elevated the construction of an international gold financial center to an important strategic level. What specific functions does Invest Hong Kong undertake in this process? What concrete progress has been made in collaboration with relevant parties? Leung: Invest Hong Kong's first function is external communication and promotion of the concepts, progress, and business opportunities of Hong Kong's gold policies.
The second function is providing comprehensive services to assist gold-related enterprises in establishing a presence in Hong Kong, helping them understand the specific implementation steps for landing, cooperating with relevant procedures, and connecting with local regulatory bodies. This is the core work of investment promotion.
The third function is assisting enterprises in connecting with various departments and facilitating cross-departmental coordination. Invest Hong Kong also contributes to building the industrial ecosystem: if eight out of ten service sectors in Hong Kong's industrial chain are already present, and the remaining two have gaps, we leverage global resources to connect with industry leaders, inviting them to establish a presence in Hong Kong to complete the industrial chain.
Q: Invest Hong Kong has offices in multiple locations worldwide. How does it leverage this global network to strengthen Hong Kong's advantages as an international gold financial center and attract global gold-related enterprises to invest and establish a presence in Hong Kong? Leung: There are several highly liquid trading centers globally, such as London and Dubai. For such centers, Invest Hong Kong has staff stationed locally. Some commercial entities, after learning about Hong Kong's policies for building a gold center through various channels and wishing to enter this blue ocean, also seek information through our local offices. The overseas network aids in communication, information sharing, and efficiency improvement.
After understanding the situation, these institutions typically fly to Hong Kong, where Invest Hong Kong receives them and introduces potential partners. This approach efficiently assists institutions already successful in the gold industry to enter Hong Kong. Given that the gold-related industrial chain is long and involves many institutions, and Hong Kong is not saturated in all segments, the entry of such leading enterprises can enrich the existing system.
Q: Invest Hong Kong provides one-on-one, tailored assistance to gold-related enterprises intending to establish a presence in Hong Kong, connecting them with optimal resources based on their business needs. Can you share specific landing cases? Leung: From the industrial chain perspective, the most upstream part of the gold industry is mining. Invest Hong Kong generally does not directly engage with mining and raw material supply; Hong Kong already has professional institutions connecting with gold resources in Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, etc., handling procurement from mines. Due to gold's high unit price and large procurement scale, there is a certain cycle from mined gold arriving in Hong Kong to downstream sales, during which enterprises bear阶段性 capital costs.
Based on this, service institutions specializing in providing transaction working capital loans for gold procurement enterprises have emerged in the market, known in the industry as gold brokers. Invest Hong Kong has engaged in in-depth对接 with such institutions for several months. Currently, preparatory work for their landing in Hong Kong, including personnel recruitment and license applications, has officially commenced. While these institutions are not prominent physical gold storage entities, they are key supporting players in完善 Hong Kong's gold industrial ecosystem.
Additionally, Hong Kong is actively promoting the development of gold asset tokenization. Many market institutions看好 the development opportunities in this sector but lack the technical expertise for tokenization themselves, creating demand for technical cooperation. Over the past few months, Invest Hong Kong has持续对接 various market institutions布局 the gold tokenization sector, assisting them in落地合作布局 in Hong Kong.
Q: For downstream industries like gold producers and refineries, how does Hong Kong attract them to establish a presence and assist enterprises in completing their布局 and integrating into the local industrial ecosystem? Leung: The development of the gold industry is based on a logistics system. Hong Kong has set a target to expand total gold storage capacity to 2,000 tons within three years. The Northern Metropolis has designated specific functional zones to support the布局 of gold storage projects; the SAR Government is also promoting the development of physical infrastructure for commodities. Gold warehouses that are落地 can enjoy proposed tax incentives; related policies are under discussion awaiting Legislative Council review.
For institutions with limited landing experience, we provide对接 services to assist their integration into the industrial ecosystem and expansion of partners. For example, if overseas enterprises intend to invest in building refining facilities in Hong Kong and seek cooperation, we can assist in connecting them with quality trading institutions.