China's ICBC says keen to join London gold price benchmark

Comment comes after London Bullion Market Association said last week that Bank of China would become the first Chinese bank to participate in the platform

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world's largest bank by assets, said it was interested in participating in the twice-daily London gold price benchmarking process.

Asia is the largest consumer of gold but the London benchmarking system has not until recently included any banks from the region as members.

"ICBC is very keen on participating," Zhou Ming, general manager in the bank's precious metals department said at an industry event in Shanghai, adding that the London price should have more Asian participation.

The comment comes after the London Bullion Market Association said last week that Bank of China would become the first Chinese bank to participate in the electronic platform that sets the benchmark.

As the world's top producer and leading consumer of bullion, China has been seeking more say in the pricing of the precious metal and other commodities.

The Shanghai Gold Exchange said on Thursday that it would launch a yuan-denominated gold fix by year-end.

Zhou said on Thursday that ICBC was working on opportunities to participate in the global gold market.

ICBC completed the acquisition of a 60-percent stake in Standard Bank's global markets arm earlier this year, including its precious metals business.

"We are still integrating our operations. We still need to get board approval (before joining the London process)," Zhou said.