China’s largest banks will begin withdrawing individual investors from precious metals trading linked to the Shanghai Gold Exchange on Friday, July 24, but the approaching deadline may not be as bearish for gold as it first appears.
The closure removes a channel used by retail traders to take leveraged or synthetic exposure to gold. At the same time, Hong Kong is expanding the ability of retirement funds to invest in gold exchange-traded funds, strengthening links with the Shanghai Gold Exchange and building infrastructure intended to turn the city into an international gold trading and settlement centre.
Taken together, the measures suggest something larger than a crackdown on gold speculation. China and Hong Kong may be changing the composition of regional gold demand, moving away from short-term leveraged trading and towards regulated products supported by pension contributions, physical settlement and institutional capital.
That transition could reduce some speculative activity in the immediate term. Over time, however, replacing leveraged traders with retirement savers could provide gold with a more consistent and less price-sensitive source of demand.
China’s July 24 Gold Trading Deadline
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will stop providing individual precious metals trading services linked to the Shanghai Gold Exchange from July 24. Postal Savings Bank of China, Ping An Bank and China Guangfa Bank have announced similar exits, while other lenders have tightened access or raised margin requirements.
The decision does not ban Chinese residents from owning gold. Investors can continue buying physical bars, jewellery and eligible gold funds. What is disappearing is a bank-distributed route into Shanghai Gold Exchange contracts that allowed individuals to obtain paper exposure and, in some cases, trade using leverage.
China’s banks have been reducing this business for years. Several institutions stopped allowing individuals to open new positions as early as 2022 while permitting existing customers to close trades. The July 24 deadline therefore completes a gradual withdrawal rather than causing every retail position to be liquidated on a single day.
The timing follows considerable volatility in the gold market. Gold fell almost 30% from its 2026 high after approaching $5,600 per ounce earlier in the year, with a stronger US dollar, rising Treasury yields and reduced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts contributing to the decline. Chinese banks responded by raising margin requirements, in some cases to as much as 140%, before announcing the final closures.
FinanceFeeds previously examined what China’s withdrawal from retail paper-gold trading means for gold prices and global markets. With the deadline now days away, the more important question is whether China is reducing gold demand or redirecting it into a different form.
From Leveraged Speculators to Pension Savers
Retail paper-gold traders and retirement investors behave very differently. A leveraged trader may enter and exit positions within hours, increase exposure when prices are rising and sell when margin requirements increase. A pension saver contributes over decades, typically through scheduled payments that continue regardless of short-term market movements.
The distinction matters because the effect of an investment channel depends on more than the total amount of money passing through it. Leveraged trading can generate considerable turnover and volatility without producing an equivalent amount of lasting physical demand. Pension allocations are slower, but they can create recurring purchases and assets that remain invested for years.
Hong Kong is now preparing to make that second form of demand easier. Its Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority plans to streamline the approval of gold ETFs, expanding the products available to retirement savers. Hong Kong’s compulsory MPF system covered approximately 4.8 million members and managed HK$1.53 trillion, equivalent to about US$195 billion, at the end of March.
Employees and employers generally contribute 5% of monthly salary to the system, subject to contribution limits. Even a modest allocation from that pool could establish a recurring demand channel that is less dependent on daily prices, trading sentiment or margin availability.
Gold ETF exposure within MPF funds is expected to remain controlled. Proposed safeguards include excluding products that use derivatives and limiting gold exposure to 10% of a fund. Those restrictions make the initiative more closely resemble long-term portfolio diversification than leveraged commodity speculation.
As FinanceFeeds reported earlier this month, the next source of structural gold demand may come from pension funds rather than another change in Federal Reserve policy.
Hong Kong Is Building More Than a Pension Product
The pension changes are part of a wider effort to create a full gold-market ecosystem connecting Hong Kong with mainland China.
On July 7, the Hong Kong Government began trial operations of a new central clearing and settlement system for gold. The programme includes new vaulting capacity, physical delivery arrangements, additional gold ETFs, a Hong Kong gold price reference, potential tax incentives and closer integration with the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
The initial phase of Delivery Connect allows participating institutions to transfer physical gold between Hong Kong’s over-the-counter market and the Shanghai Gold Exchange International Board. The system is intended to connect trading, physical delivery, clearing and storage rather than leaving gold exposure inside purely synthetic investment products.
Hong Kong is also targeting more than 2,000 tonnes of total gold-storage capacity within three years. Three new gold ETFs have been listed since January, bringing the total to six, while HKEX has revived its US-dollar gold futures contract and is exploring an RMB-denominated gold futures product supported by Shanghai Gold Exchange delivery.
This is why the July 24 restriction should not be viewed in isolation. Mainland banks are removing a retail channel associated with leverage and suitability risks while Hong Kong is simultaneously expanding regulated gold products, retirement access, settlement infrastructure and physical-market connectivity.
Could Deleveraging Make the Next Gold Rally Stronger?
Deleveraging does not automatically cause prices to rise. In the immediate term, closing leveraged trading channels can reduce demand, force some positions to be closed and remove traders who previously bought into short-term rallies.
Once that process is complete, however, the market may become less vulnerable to forced selling. Lower leverage means fewer margin calls, fewer liquidations during sudden declines and less speculative positioning that must be unwound when volatility increases.
That can create better conditions for a sustainable rally, but only when underlying demand remains strong. In this case, physical purchases, ETF allocations, central-bank buying and pension flows would need to replace the speculative exposure being removed.
The fact that several banks had already prevented customers from opening new positions reduces the risk of a large one-day liquidation event on July 24. The immediate impact may therefore be smaller than the language of a nationwide “ban” implies.
The larger effect could emerge gradually. If Chinese households move from paper-gold accounts into physical products and if Hong Kong pension funds begin allocating recurring contributions to gold ETFs, the market will lose some high-turnover speculation but gain a source of long-duration capital.
Why the Structural Change Could Be Bullish
A pension-driven gold market would have several characteristics that are supportive of prices over the medium and long term.
First, pension contributions are systematic. Workers and employers continue contributing each month, creating potential inflows that do not depend on investors correctly timing the market.
Second, retirement assets usually have low turnover. Gold purchased through a pension allocation is less likely to return to the market during an ordinary correction than a leveraged position held by a short-term trader.
Third, the development of clearing, vaulting and delivery infrastructure could increase the share of regional gold investment connected to physical metal. Synthetic products may be hedged in the wholesale market, but physical settlement and gold-backed ETFs can have a more direct effect on bullion availability.
Fourth, Hong Kong’s connection with the Shanghai Gold Exchange could make it easier for mainland and international demand to interact. Better settlement, storage and price discovery may attract banks, asset managers, sovereign institutions and global trading firms in addition to retail pension savers.
The bullish argument is therefore not that eliminating leverage causes gold to rise. It is that policymakers appear to be replacing a volatile form of demand with infrastructure capable of supporting recurring, regulated and long-term ownership.
Will Gold Prices Move This Week?
A large price move caused solely by the July 24 deadline appears unlikely. The affected banks had already restricted new positions, and the market has had several weeks to prepare for the closures. Gold’s immediate direction will still depend more heavily on the US dollar, Treasury yields, Federal Reserve expectations, ETF flows and central-bank purchases.
The deadline could nevertheless affect sentiment. Traders may initially interpret the loss of a Chinese retail channel as bearish, particularly if closing activity creates visible selling. Any weakness would need to be compared with Chinese physical premiums, Asian ETF flows and evidence that capital is migrating into alternative gold products.
Investors outside China should also distinguish between a short-term trading event and a long-term allocation shift. Attempting to trade the July 24 deadline as a standalone catalyst carries considerable risk because the immediate flow impact may be limited and already reflected in prices.
The stronger investment thesis concerns what happens after the speculative channel closes. If gold becomes more deeply embedded in Hong Kong’s retirement system while physical-market infrastructure expands between Hong Kong and Shanghai, the resulting demand may be slower than leveraged trading but considerably more durable.
China’s withdrawal from retail paper gold could create temporary pressure or lower turnover. It may also remove a source of forced liquidation before millions of retirement savers gain easier access to regulated gold exposure.
That would not amount to China turning against gold. It would represent a systemic change in who owns it, how they obtain exposure and how long they are likely to hold it.