LONDON (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) (HK:0388) and the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) have teamed up to possibly develop precious metals contracts and boost links between markets, the bourses said on Wednesday.
The exchanges signed a memorandum of understanding "to consider various potential areas of mutual interest, including joint development of precious metals products and cross-market connectivity," the companies said in a statement.
The move comes as China is close to establishing a yuan price fix on gold, which could give buyers in Asia more power over bullion trade.
The SGE, the world's biggest physical bullion exchange, launched the gold international trading board in September 2014. It has also been in talks with other exchanges, including CME Group (O:CME) to list bullion products on their trading platform.
The HKEX had previously said it would look at bullion products, although its subsidiary the Hong Kong Futures Exchange Ltd. (HKFE) suspended its thinly-traded gold futures contract last year.