China is Buying One of London's Biggest Gold Vaults

China has just boosted its reach to London's gold market, as the state-owned ICBC Standard Bank has agreed to buy the precious metals storage business from Barclays PLC (ADR) BCS, which includes a state-of-the-art storage facility in London, according to a report on CNN.

While the financial details of the sale were not disclosed, the report says the "vault is in a secret location in London, and can store 2,000 tons of gold and other precious metals."

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"At current prices, up to $90 billion worth of gold could be stored inside."

For Barclays, the deal is part of a restructuring effort to make the bank leaner and more focused, while the Chinese bank could easily service its Western clients by having a vault closer to store precious metals.

"London is the world's largest wholesale over-the-counter gold market by trading volume, with estimated $5 trillion worth of gold trades cleared there every year. The precious metal has been traded in London for over 300 years," the report added.