Hong Kong's financial services take a significant step forward with the opening of the new Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange early next year.
The first contract to be traded would be gold, chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen told the Foreign Correspondents' Club.
It will differ from other gold contracts traded in Hong Kong and the region in that it will be a futures contract with physical delivery.
'This is what the big gold traders in China and the region say they want,' he said.
Other gold contracts traded in Hong Kong and the region are generally linked to an index. The exchange, which has spent a long time in the planning process since the government gave its initial approval in 2006, was preparing to offer futures contracts in a range of commodities including precious metals, base metals and fuel, Cheung said.
Later this month, the exchange will finalise its shareholders. Cheung said 40 to 45 per cent of the equity would probably be owned by a small group of big, mainland state-owned industries, with the rest held by Hong Kong and international investors.