Foreigners are now have access to China's gold market after the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) launched its international board on Thursday.

The yuan-denominated board was launched in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, a move to encourage foreign participation in China's tightly controlled gold market.

"The international board has made China's opening up of the gold market a reality," said Xu Luode, the SGE chairman, adding that foreign participation and rising trading volume will make China a real international market.

The new international board hopes to challenge current gold market leaders London and New York. So far, it has attracted dozens of foreign members, including renowned international commercial and investment banks.

It is the first time in China's capital market that foreign investors can participate in the investment and trading of yuan-denominated products without a capital cap, said a bank dealer on condition of anonymity.