Chinais planning to change procedures for cross-border trade of gold and gold productsby allowing companies to apply for a single permit that can be used for up to 12shipments, Bloomberg News and China's Xinhua News Agency reported May 4, citinga joint statement from the People's Bank of China and the General Administrationof Customs.

The newrules will be effective June 1 and will be applicable for testing in Beijing, Shanghai,Guangzhou, Qingdao, Nanjing and Shenzhen.

The proceduralchanges are expected to improve gold trade as previously companies had to seek apermit on every shipment.

"Themove will reduce paperwork and speed up gold imports because previously importershad to apply for an overall import quota from the central bank and then report andregister every single shipment," chief analyst Jiang Shu at Shandong Gold FinancialHoldings Capital Management Co. was quoted as saying.

In 2015,China consumed 985.9 tonnes of gold and produced 450.05 tonnes, Xinhua added citingdata from the China Gold Association.