Hong Kong and Singapore gold trading competition

Hong Kong and Singapore have entered a competition to become the premier gold trading hubs in Asia, capitalizing on the trend of central banks diversifying their reserves. While Singapore aims to link global liquidity pools and expand storage for foreign central banks, Hong Kong is focusing on building a comprehensive commodity ecosystem.

Hong Kong has progressed from pilot operations for a gold transaction settlement system toward more concrete infrastructure developments. These include the construction of a 100,000-square-foot precious metals refinery in Tai Po by Dajin International, expected to be finished by the end of 2026.

Further developments in Hong Kong include the Hong Kong Gold Central Clearing and Settlement System, which began trial operations in July and is targeted for an official launch in the first quarter of 2027 with Bank of China Hong Kong acting as the settlement institution. Additionally, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is exploring multi-asset tokenization and enhancing its Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities (FICC) ecosystem to support RMB internationalization.