Shanghai Gold Exchange, China's first platform for trading gold, platinum, silver and other precious metals, was established in October 2002. Today, China is the biggest gold producing and importing country, as well as an important consumer of gold.

The development of the Asian gold market accelerated at the beginning of the 21st century, and China's gold market grew rapidly with the fast and steady development of its economy, especially after the global financial crisis. Take the Shanghai Gold Exchange for example. Its transaction volume increased from 870 billion yuan in 2008 to 10.7 trillion yuan in 2015. And client scales increased from 400,000 individuals and 3,700 organizations to more than 8.6 million individuals and over 10,000 organizations.

For a long time, London has been the center of the physical gold market and New York for the gold futures market. With the rapid growth in demand for gold in emerging countries such China and India, a new global pattern is gradually taking shape. But the gold pricing doesn't fully reflect the supply and demand relationship in the market in the East.