World Gold Council: Gold ETF and Over-the-counter Trading (OTC) investments will benefit from the macroeconomic trends in 2025, and the Central Bank will continue its (gold purchase) policy. While demand for gold bars and coins remains strong, it may slow down in some key markets, and the sustained and stable gold prices may further erode jewelry consumption. Supply may experience a rise on an annual basis, while being supported by conditions such as scrap metal recycling and mineral production.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Department of Commerce, Department of Industry and Information Technology, Department of Public Security, Department of Finance, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation have issued the "Implementation Plan for the Replacement of Old Cars with New Cars for Automobile Consumption in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" to promote automobile consumption. The "Implementation Plan" clarifies the scope and standards of subsidies. From April 24, 2024 to December 31, 2024, individual consumers who scrap their own fuel passenger cars with National III or lower emission standards or scrap new energy passenger cars registered before April 30, 2018 and purchase new passenger cars from automobile sales institutions registered with the market supervision and administration departments of various leagues and cities in the autonomous region, and obtain a local unified sales invoice for motor vehicles, and register and license them locally can apply for a one-time vehicle purchase subsidy. Individual consumers who scrap the above two types of old cars and purchase new energy passenger cars included in the "Catalog of New Energy Vehicle Models Eligible for Vehicle Purchase Tax Exemption and Reduction" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology can apply for a subsidy of 12,000 yuan/vehicle; those who scrap fuel passenger cars with National III or lower emission standards and purchase fuel passenger cars with 2.0L or lower emission standards can apply for a subsidy of 9,000 yuan/vehicle.

On April 28th, Jinshi Data reported that the "Henan Province Automobile Trade-In and BYD Day" event was officially launched in Zhengzhou. This year, Henan Province will provide a subsidy of up to 10,000 yuan for the replacement of old cars with new energy vehicles. "As a major durable consumer good, cars are the focus of promoting the trade-in of old for new," said Fei Quanfa, Deputy Inspector of the Henan Province Department of Commerce, at the launch ceremony. The province encourages the replacement of old cars with high energy consumption, high emissions, long service life, and safety hazards with new energy vehicles or energy-efficient vehicles. The three actions to be taken include scrapping and replacing old cars, exchanging and updating cars, and innovating automobile circulation consumption. He stated that individual consumers who scrap National III emission standard or below fuel vehicles or new energy passenger vehicles over 6 years old, and purchase fuel passenger vehicles with a displacement of below 2.0 liters will receive a subsidy of 7,000 yuan, and a subsidy of 10,000 yuan for purchasing new energy passenger vehicles.

On April 26, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and other 7 departments jointly issued the "Implementation Rules for Car Trade-in Subsidy" released to the public. Among them, a subsidy of 10,000 yuan will be given to those who scrap the above two types of old vehicles and purchase new energy passenger vehicles, and a subsidy of 7,000 yuan will be given to those who scrap fuel passenger cars with emission standards of China III and below and purchase fuel passenger cars with a displacement of 2.0 liters and below. Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology, told reporters that the subsidy policy will effectively boost China's automobile consumption. In recent years, China's economy has developed, the number of middle-class people has increased, and the demand for replacement cars is large. At the same time, China's car replacement cycle is generally longer than that of European and American countries, so China's current car ownership is higher, and the replacement demand is also very considerable.

Jinse Finance reported that last week, the Blockchain Paperless Trade Initiative (TradeTrust Framework) jointly launched by the Enterprise Singapore (Enterprise Singapore) and the Singapore Technology Authority (IMDA) realized real-time international trade for the first time. Maersk used the platform to issue an electronic bill of lading (eBL) for a shipment of scrap metal on a public blockchain. DBS Bank in Singapore and ICICI Bank in India rely on the electronic bill of lading for trade financing. IMDA claims that this is the first shipment to go through a fully paperless transaction process involving traders, shippers and banks. The electronic bill of lading is a key document for trade finance because the organization that owns the bill of lading effectively owns the goods. Electronic bills of lading can prevent fraud when sending paper bills of lading by courier. And, since it can be transmitted electronically, it's faster and less expensive.