On October 6 local time, Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, attended the Global Precious Metals Conference 2026 hosted by the London Bullion Market Association in Sorrento, Italy.

Hui stated that Hong Kong, leveraging its strategic geographical location, its status as an international financial center, and its unique advantage of operating under the common law system, is fully committed to building a gold trading ecosystem that connects with the existing gold market and injects usable liquidity into the international market.

Hui pointed out that Hong Kong has moved beyond the planning stage and has fully entered the implementation stage. The trial operation of Hong Kong's Central Gold Clearing and Settlement System has received an ideal response. In addition to the 11 banks serving as temporary direct participants in the settlement system, other banks have also expressed interest in joining the settlement system, which is scheduled to officially commence operations in the first quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's efforts to link the settlement system with the Hong Kong Real-Time Gross Settlement system to achieve delivery-versus-payment settlement have entered the final stage. The goal is to reduce settlement risk, enhance operational efficiency, and provide a reliable foundation for participants to develop their businesses.

Furthermore, the Hong Kong government is actively promoting private market participation in expanding gold storage capacity and refining capacity through various policy measures, including studying tax incentives to further increase the attractiveness to market participants, given that gold import and export activities already enjoy tax exemptions.

Hui also announced that the London Bullion Market Association will co-host an Asian Forum in Hong Kong in April next year together with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing System Limited. He expressed excitement about the association's decision, considering it a full affirmation of Hong Kong's rapid advancement in gold market development over the past two years. The forum will coincide with the official launch of Hong Kong's Central Gold Clearing and Settlement System, and the Hong Kong government will take the opportunity to showcase to international and Asian participants Hong Kong's capability to align with international standards, as well as how the industry can make good use of Hong Kong as a trusted platform to connect the international and mainland Chinese gold markets.

Regarding alignment with international standards, Hui specifically mentioned that the Hong Kong government is discussing with the London Bullion Market Association the implementation of cooperation on the Good Delivery standard. He stated that if the cooperation materializes, it will help integrate internationally recognized standards into Hong Kong's gold market infrastructure, laying a credible foundation for industry participation in market activities.