The decline in interbank trading has prompted a debate about the most appropriate structure for the bullion market, with some people suggesting physical gold should be traded on an exchange.

“We will undoubtedly have a Chinese fixing price before the end of the year and we will see a rapid development of a Chinese gold options market — they’ve got a very deep liquid lending market and so the idea that liquidity is moving east is correct,” one market participant says. “They do need to take stock of where the London market is going and what role it’s got to play going forward.”