Author: Paul Ploumis04 Jun 2014 Last updated at 02:58:12 GMT

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): In order to expand the country’s supremacy over global gold trade, China is seen pondering over the possibilities to allow the use of offshore Yuan in gold trading in the Shanghai free-trade zone.

According to the Bloomberg report, the Shanghai Gold Exchange is proposing to permit offshore Yuan account holders trade the three contracts it will offer, including bullion of 99.99 percent purity.

It is said that, the gold contracts will expand the series of investment options for Yuan deposits around the world, which hit at least 1.5 trillion yuan ($240 billion) in March.

Recently, China welcomed the leading banks including Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Standard Bank Plc. to participate in the Shanghai free-trade zone and to establish an international gold trading platform as part of the liberalization of China’s gold markets.

Moreover, the People’s Bank of China has allowed the financial banks to trade on exchanges in Shanghai, without any time frame for the change. The central bank reversed the restrictions on foreign-currency deposit rates in the zone from March 1.