During the last few years, China becomes the world's largest processor of gold on the back of the rising living standards of people, higher consumer spending and the fast and healthy growth of gold production and processing sector. During the process, ICBC rolls out gold leasing services to fill the financial needs of gold companies and supports their growth. As of today, over 100 gold companies lease gold from ICBC. In 2011, ICBC delivered 62.80 tons of gold to gold companies which translates to over RMB 20 billion of loans to them, ranking No.1 among the peers in terms of gold leasing turnover.

The gold leasing service, or "Borrow Gold, Repay Equivalent Gold", is a service for eligible gold companies to lease gold from ICBC and repay gold of the same amount when the contract expires. To the gold companies, the service allows them to use less working capital to buy raw gold. Besides, they are in a better position to avoid the risk from the fluctuation of gold prices. In other words, they can reduce borrowing cost while utilizing the company funds in a more efficient manner.

ICBC offers the gold leasing service mainly to companies using gold (accessory processing, industrial manufacturing) and gold producing companies (gold mines, gold refineries), said an executive with ICBC. ICBC makes continuous effort to deliver highly efficient gold leasing service in order to better meet the demand of gold companies. At present, it only takes 3 to 5 working days to complete all the formalities, from application submitted by the gold companies to delivery of physical gold. For gold companies, this saves time and cost. In a bid to help gold companies avoid gold price risk, ICBC offers hedging tools (gold forwards, swap) to assist companies using gold to preserve value through hedging and lock down gold prices.