Hong Kong’s Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society was given permission to set up a precious metals vault in Shenzhen, China, becoming the first non-mainland bourse granted onshore commodity warehousing access.

Local government authorities and the People’s Bank of China Shenzhen branch approved the exchange’s plan to build the 1,500- ton facility to store gold and silver in Qianhai, a special economic zone on the west of Shenzhen, according to Haywood Cheung, President of the CGSE. Construction will begin next year and take about 18 months, he said.