Editor’s Note
This article outlines recent adjustments to gold trading rules by major Chinese financial institutions and retailers ahead of the Spring Festival holiday. The moves, including dynamic trading limits and suspended buyback services, are widely seen as precautionary measures to manage market volatility and liquidity during the period.
On February 11, China Construction Bank (CCB) announced that it will implement dynamic trading limits on “CCB Gold” (including Easy Deposit Gold) from February 14 to February 23, and suspend its physical gold buyback service.
This move follows similar adjustments to buyback rules by major gold retailers China Gold and Caibai Co., Ltd. Several industry insiders told Jiemian News that the primary reason for adjusting gold trading rules is to guard against risks arising from market price fluctuations during the extended holiday period.
A CCB customer service representative responded to Jiemian News, stating that this adjustment is aimed at preventing price fluctuations in the precious metals market and protecting investors.
Jiemian News noted that the timing of CCB’s business adjustment coincides with a notice issued by the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE). Previously, the SGE released a notice on market risk control measures for the 2026 Spring Festival holiday.
Coinciding with the weekend and the Year of the Horse Spring Festival holiday, the Shanghai Gold Exchange will be closed from February 14 to February 23, with no night trading session on the evening of February 13.
The SGE notice pointed out that to prevent price fluctuations in the international gold and silver markets during the holiday, and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the “Shanghai Gold Exchange Risk Control Management Measures,” adjustments will be made to the margin ratios, price limits for gold and silver deferred contracts, and margins for performance-guaranteed inquiry contracts.
Specific adjustments include: Starting from the close of settlement on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, the margin ratio for contracts such as Au(T+D), mAu(T+D), Au(T+N1), Au(T+N2), NYAuTN06, and NYAuTN12 will be increased from 18% to 21%, and the daily price fluctuation limit from the next trading day will be adjusted from 17% to 20%. The margin ratio for Ag(T+D) contracts will be increased from 24% to 27%, and the daily price fluctuation limit from the next trading day will be adjusted from 23% to 26%. The margin for CAu99.99 contracts will be adjusted from 150,000 yuan per lot to 200,000 yuan per lot.
The SGE clarified that subsequent adjustments to contract margin ratios and price limits will be notified separately by the Exchange after the Spring Festival.
Ye Qianning, a precious metals researcher at GF Futures Research Institute, previously told Jiemian News in an interview.
A source from a major state-owned bank told Jiemian News that since the second half of last year, inquiries, purchases, and trading volumes for various gold businesses, including gold accumulation plans, have surged significantly. Some newly entering customers participate in gold trading with obvious speculative intent. Since the beginning of this year, precious metal prices have been highly volatile, and suspending trading is also to prevent significant fluctuations in international gold prices during the holiday. Additionally, due to the exchange closure, banks’ proprietary trading teams cannot use derivative trading to mitigate volatility risks.
In fact, several banks have previously adjusted precious metals trading rules, with a clear intent to curb speculation. On February 3, Industrial Bank’s “Announcement on Adjusting Trading Channels for Personal Precious Metals Trading Business Acting as Agent for Shanghai Gold Exchange” stated that, according to business development needs, the bank will close the personal online banking trading channel for its agency SGE personal precious metals trading business after February 14, 2026, while counter and mobile banking channels remain open normally.
On December 30 last year, Postal Savings Bank of China announced that its agency SGE personal precious metals business would be suspended starting January 12, 2026.
In the same month, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China strengthened the management of its agency personal precious metals trading. For clients with no positions, no inventory, no debts but still having balances in their margin accounts, the bank began batch transferring the margin account balances to the linked settlement accounts from December 19 and closing the related business functions.
In October last year, China Everbright Bank issued an announcement stating that for clients who had signed up for its agency SGE spot and deferred business but held no positions, the bank would gradually terminate the business agency relationship through system adjustments. For clients with no positions but still having funds in their margin accounts, the bank would return the funds to their linked bank accounts after termination.
On September 30, Bank of Ningbo stated that starting October 13, it would stop accepting agency personal client buy transactions for SGE spot physical delivery, while sell transactions would not be affected.
Dong Ximiao, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, told Jiemian News.