Hong Kong Gold Exchange recently held its Lunar New Year market opening ceremony, announcing a partnership with AGTech, a member of the Alibaba Group, to develop a one-stop trading services platform.

Experts said the collaboration is expected to help position Hong Kong as an international gold hub linking Eastern and Western markets by upgrading the city's gold-market digital infrastructure, and to support the development of a strong financial industry through innovation in digital finance.

Joseph Chan, under secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that the Hong Kong SAR government is committed to promoting Hong Kong as an international gold trading centre, attracting the storage, clearing and settlement of spot gold in the city, and driving the vigorous development of the industrial chain encompassing investment trading, derivative products, warehousing, insurance, trade and logistics.

"HKGX has officially partnered with AGTech to develop an international precious metals trading platform, a clearing and settlement system, and a digital commodity blockchain," said Haywood Cheung, chairman of HKGX.

Gavin Zhao, chief product and technology officer of AGTech, said: "We are very pleased to collaborate with HKGX, leveraging our group's deep accumulation in digital finance, internationalization support, risk management, and platform governance. "

The platform will integrate spot and futures trading, digital gold, B2C trading, a clearing and settlement centre, OTC trading, membership management, a unified risk control system, offshore and onshore RMB. Additionally, the platform will feature multi-currency pricing and settlement capabilities, multi-language support, and an open, compatible architecture design, Zhao added.

Once completed, HKGX's trading platform is expected to establish a more regulated, standardized market framework. Enhanced member oversight and the digitization of both on-exchange and over-the-counter trading would support the gold industry's upgrade and transition.