The bank can now participate in listed gold contracts, gold leasing and other gold derivatives business, and provide more services to its domestic and international client base.

BNP Paribas (China) has been granted membership of the main board of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which will allow the bank to fully participate in the Chinese gold market by offering deeper liquidity and broader product scope, it announced in a press release on Tuesday.

SGE was set up in by the People's Bank of China in 2002 as a center for gold, silver and platinum trading, growing to become the second-largest gold exchange globally by volume by 2018. BNP Paribas (China) started bilateral gold trading on SGE's international board in 2017, and now conducts spot, swaps and options trading.

«Through our participation on the main board, we hope to position China as a global center for gold trading,» Mikko Russi, BNP Paribas head of FX, Local Markets & Commodity Derivatives for Asia Pacific, said in the statement.