Precious metal shipments to Hong Kong under scrutiny

Investigators have been sent to the southern province of Guangdong to probe a seven-fold surge in precious-metals exports as China intensifies scrutiny of growing irregularities in trade figures.

The team includes staff from the Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information has not been made public. Shipments of precious metals, including jewelry, rose to about $10.8 billion in September from $1.39 billion a year earlier, according to customs data.

The probe comes after China uncovered almost $10 billion in fraudulent trade nationwide as part of an investigation that began in April last year. The probe found 94.4 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) of loans backed by falsified gold transactions in June.