Recruiting in China

The Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to launch an international board in the pilot free trade zone to attract offshore yuan capital to invest in the Chinese mainland's gold market, a senior official said yesterday.

"We want to tap the opportunity from Shanghai's pilot free trade zone and launch an international board to attract offshore yuan to invest in the mainland," Xu Luode, chairman of the bourse, said at a precious metals forum in Shanghai yesterday.

The board will ensure that the onshore gold market correlates with the global market, said Xu, without disclosing a timetable for the launch.

Financial reforms in the free trade zone will allow free fund transfers between the zone and offshore markets for the first time, according to a directive issued by the People's Bank of China on Monday.

The Shanghai exchange will establish a system that publishes daily rates at which selected market participants are willing to lend gold in the mainland interbank market, which is similar to the Gold Forward Offered Rates by the London Bullion Market Association, according to Xu.

The world's biggest exchange for physical gold in Shanghai will also offer custody for the metal to retail investors.