(Of course, they've been buying e-gold for a few years.) The URL for this story was too long, so I'm just going to paste it in and hope the Xinhua News Agency forgives me. I'd love to see the new Shanghai gold exchange! JMR
50-year ban on gold sale to individuals lifted Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS Publication date: 2002-12-19 Arrival time: 2002-12-20 50-year ban on gold sale to individuals lifted BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Local shops opened their doors to individual gold buyers in the Chinese capital Wednesday for the first time in the country in over five decades. Direct sale of gold bars to individuals suspended immediately after the founding of new China in 1949, when its government monopolized the business. The ban was considered the "last stronghold of a planned economy". Gold shops were crowded in Beijing for the last two days as individuals snapped up gold bars in sizes ranging from 30 gram to 12,500 gram. Some aged buyers still remembered very well small gold bars used to be referred to as "little yellow fish". China is the world's fifth largest gold producer and the third largest gold consumer. In 2001, the country produced 181.83 metric tons of gold, whereas 270 tons of gold was sold on the domestic market. The Oct. 30 opening of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the first of its kind in China, signified the re-opening of the gold market in China. The prices of gold bars would fluctuate in compliance with the exchange in Shanghai, the country's financial center. Publication date: 2002-12-19 --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
