The Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to start bullion trading in the city’s free-trade zone on 26 September, a report says.

While the gold price has fallen from record highs over the past year, Asia’s traditional love affair for the yellow metal looks set to take another twist when the Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to start bullion trading in the city’s free-trade zone on 26 September, Bloomberg reports.

The news service quoted unnamed sources saying that gold trading will start on that date. It quoted a spokesperson for the exchange saying that trading is being tested but gave no further details, such as on timing.

The move could pit Shanghai against other financial hubs in the region, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.

The gold contract will be priced and settled in renminbi and the infrastructure is in place for trading to start in the third quarter, the exchange reportedly said in June this year.

The state of the gold market has been lacklustre in recent months although prices did get a boost from safe-haven investors concerned about conflicts in Syria, Iraq and eastern Ukraine. According to recent figures from the World Gold Council, gold demand slumped in the second quarter this year as buying from China and India - the world’s two biggest consumers of the metal - slowed. Total demand for gold was 964 metric tons in April to June, down 16 per cent compared with 1,148 tons during the same period in 2013.