Tidings of joy and fortune mark an auspicious beginning of the Year of the Pig. On the fourth day of Chinese New Year, CGSE held the first opening ceremony of Asia’s gold market in Sheung Wan. First Gold management was invited to join Dr. Haywood Cheung, the President of CGSE, and fellow members of the Executive & Supervisory Committee in attendance of the grand event. Renminbi (RMB) Kilobar Gold of First Gold was exhibited in the event, attracting the attention of a wide array of media.

This year honored to have invited Mr. Joseph Chan Ho Lim, the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Dr. Haywood Cheung and First Gold management  to the event to witness the traditional open cut-cry ceremony of CGSE. It was an intense trading where the first RMB Kilobar Gold was traded at an auspicious amount of 288.88 Yuan per gram on the first trading day of Chinese New Year. In addition, First Gold and other peers exhibited a total of 100 RMB Kilobar Gold in the event, with the total value exceeding HKD 33 million. Amazed at the golden beams, we envision a booming gold business which will continue to flourish.

During the ceremony, CGSE announced the imminent launch of GoldZip, the physical gold investment product, in this year. GoldZip is an investment product registered with blockchain technology and linked to international gold price. Supporting one-for-one exchange in physical gold, the product can even be traded and cashed round the clock via simple procedures. Dr. Haywood Cheung estimated that the physical gold inventory of the platform will increase from about 1 ton to 10 tons in the first year. Thus it can be seen gold price will become active again this year and may even enter the early stage of a bull market.

Moreover, Mr. Joseph Chan Ho Lim indicated that Hong Kong is an externally-oriented economy, thus Hong Kong's economy is directly affected by  global economic uncertainties such as trade wars and U.S. interest rate hikes, etc. Taking up the role of both a facilitator and a promoter, the government will provide massive support to CGSE in order to boost the development of Hong Kong's financial technology. It can be seen that the government remains optimistic about the economic prospects of Hong Kong, where gold is also considered one of the ideal choices for investors.