Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, Stock exchange in Central District, Hong Kong.

The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society is a precious metals exchange in Hong Kong, not a stock exchange. Founded in 1910 and renamed in 1918, it has 171 corporate members, including banks, jeweller groups, bullion merchants and refineries. It runs both open-outcry and electronic trading platforms for physical gold and silver.

It was established in 1910 as the Gold and Silver Exchange Company and gained recognition by 1979 as one of the four leading gold trading centers globally. The continuity spanning over a century demonstrates its central role in regional financial markets.

The society's name comes from its 1918 registration as the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society, after starting in 1910 as the Gold and Silver Exchange Company. Its founders were immigrants from mainland China, and banks such as Hang Seng Bank and Tai Seng Bank helped organise the trading venue. Members still trade by open outcry and on an electronic platform.

The exchange is a members' trading venue, not a public visitor attraction, so access is arranged through member firms rather than walk-in visits. Its Hong Kong Precious Metals Assay Centre, set up in 2010, carries out metal fineness testing. Trading runs on both open-outcry and electronic platforms, so activity is concentrated in trading sessions.

In January 1980, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, gold prices swung HK$1,200 between the day's high and low. Major gold markets worldwide suspended trading that day; the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange was the only one that stayed open. A similar test came in early February 1983, when falling oil prices and high US interest rates closed the US and Singapore markets while this exchange kept trading.