Founded more than 100 years ago, during the Qing dynasty, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society is still going strong in the 21st century.
It has flourished in recent years as surging gold prices helped turnover soar and spawned new products.
The society's president, Haywood Cheung Tak-hay, who has been trading at the city's oldest exchange for three decades, is upbeat about the bourse's prospects.
'We want the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange to become the largest of its kind in Asia, and we want the market to set the gold price during Asian trading,' Cheung told the South China Morning Post in an interview.
'The exchange has established a strong platform over the past century, and we want to build on this. We want to extend our international membership, launch new products, modernise our trading hall and, eventually, restructure our company and list it,' he said.
'A key factor in our success over more than 100 years is integrity. Our members all trust each other, and we never default on a deal. We are a successful self-regulating body, and that's why the government doesn't think the gold bourse needs to be regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission.'
A government official echoed Cheung's comments.