On September 9th, 2009, the first specialized institution operating precious metals, such as gold, of a domestic commercial bank — Precious Metals Business Department of ICBC — was officially established in Shanghai. According to inside sources of the industry, the establishment of the professional operator of precious metals business in commercial banks marks a new stage for the precious metals market in China, which will also have positive influence on the financial market.

As is introduced, the new department of Precious Metals Business of ICBC will be in charge of all the operation and management of the bank's precious metals business. Its business ranges from self-trading of precious metals, agency services of physical storage, delivery, allocation and clearing of precious metals, precious metals lease, brand precious metals business and wealth management of agency investment/hedge business of precious metals, to financing, lease and precious metals inter-bank lending in the business of precious metals financing market. Some internationally renowned financial institutions have their own special operators in precious metals for specialized and departmental management.

According to the person in charge of ICBC's precious metals business, locating the new department in Shanghai and promoting the specialized operation of precious metals is an appropriate and timely move of ICBC on the basis of sufficient consideration of the status quo and trends of the precious metals market in China, which is also to support Shanghai as an international financial center. China ranks, globally, first in gold production and second in gold consumption, maintaining its tradition of preserving gold on a public basis. With the rapid increase of the national income, China's gold market is also expanding and consolidating, and shows great potentials. By establishing Precious Metals Business Department, constructing the complete operation and management system of precious metals business and improving the ability to provide services and innovate products through integrations in business, institutions and products, ICBC can make good use of its advantages in , fund, client resources, technology and so on, strengthen the innovation of products across markets, so as to provide fuller and more integrated services of precious metals business and better satisfy the increasing customer demand for wealth management and hedging of gold. Moreover, establishing the specialized system for precious metals management and unifying the management of the risks in precious metals business to the headquarters can also effectively enhance the risk control of the precious metals business.

As is introduced, precious metals mainly include gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and so on. Precious metals, mainly gold, have the attribute of products and also the attribute of currency to some extent. Due to the relatively stable value of precious metals, they have been long regarded as ideal hedging tools. In this global financial crisis, gold has fully demonstrated its value-preserving function in withstanding risks. Gold has then attracted more attention than ever, at home and abroad; and it has become another important financial investment channel for Chinese residents, after stocks, bond and fund. At present, aspects in the trading of the gold market, such as trading variety, trading method, and means of trading, price formation and others are approaching the international standards and becoming more improved. Individual investors in China have great interest in paper gold, physical gold, gold futures, and other gold-related financing products; and domestic enterprises that produce and consume gold also show strong demand for risk management through derivatives such as gold forward, swap, option and so on. However, compared with those mature foreign gold market systems, the one in China is smaller in scale, less diversified in products, and still cannot fully satisfy the demand for gold business of residents and enterprises.

Judging from past experience of international gold markets, the further development of the market for gold production, consumption and investment cannot work without the participation of commercial banks. Hence, as the largest commercial bank in China, ICBC is qualified, capable and responsible to become the first-choice linkage between customers and the gold market. In fact, ICBC always attaches great importance to the development of precious metals business, and plays a significant role in the development of the precious metals market in China. Since the official launch of the precious metals business in 2001, ICBC has continuously improved its product system, and has fulfilled development in this business by leaps and bounds. From the inception of the business till June 2009, the trading volume of ICBC's precious metals business has totaled 2,117 tons, the sales of the "Ruyi Gold Bullion" 28 tons, trading volume of the agency physical gold 195 tons, and total volume of account gold trade 1,480 tons. And various indexes, such as income of precious metals business, sales volume of Brand Gold, volume of account gold trade, clearing volume of gold exchange agents, trading volume of platinum of gold exchange agents, take the lead in the industry in the country. Meanwhile, ICBC also largely values the building of professional precious metals personnel, and has trained an expert team of precious metals business, among which 33 are certified as senior gold investment analysts and 98 as intermediate gold investment analysts, surpassing other banks in this regard.

According to the official in charge, after the establishment of the Precious Metals Business Department, ICBC will continue to improve and develop the precious metals business, enrich the product lines, and design and launch new business and new products according to the need of the customer and the market. For instance, ICBC will shortly launch new products, such as Au (T+D), and continue to promote business like agency gold recovery, "Gold Accumulation Plan (GAP)", gold lease, pledged loans of gold and silver, and others. Subsequently, ICBC will develop a series of new products and new business that are original in China, so as to provide diversified, customer-friendly and personalized precious metals business for domestic investors.