BEIJING - China will strengthen regulation of the gold market and crack down on illegal gold transactions, a senior central bank official said Thursday.

Pan Gongsheng, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, said at the ongoing 2019 Global Gold Market Summit Forum that China's central bank would supervise the operation of Shanghai Gold Exchange and other financial institutions to guarantee the steady operation of market transactions.

With the theme "Reform, Innovation and Regulation," the forum mainly focused on new opportunities in the gold market, and challenges in the real economy.

It was attended by representatives from leading banks, gold exchanges, industry associations and universities in China and abroad.