China’s ICBC Standard Bank, the world’s biggest bank by assets, has agreed to buy a massive vault in London.

中国工行标准银行是目前世界上资产最多的银行，日前其已经同意在伦敦购买一个大型金库。

It will be the first Chinese lender to own a vault in London as it looks to grow its precious metals business.

这将是在伦敦拥有金库的第一家中国银行，籍此中国工行将发展旗下的贵金属业务。

The vault, which is in a secret location and is being sold by Barclays, can hold up to 2,000 metric tons of gold, silver, platinum and palladium.

这个金库由英国巴特莱银行售出，地点隐秘，最多可容纳2000吨的黄金、白银、铂金和钯。

The deal will give ICBC more influence over trading, pricing and storage of precious metals.

这一交易将使得中国工行在贵金属的交易、定价以及储存方面更有影响力。

No financial details were given but the deal is expected to be completed in July.

目前双方都没有披露更多的金融信息，但是这笔交易预计将在7月份的时候完成。

China accounts for more than a quarter of global gold demand but trading of the yellow metal remains centred out of London and New York. Around $5tn (3.5tn pounds) in transactions were handled in London’s bullion market last year.

中国的黄金需求占据了全世界需求总量的四分之一，但是黄金贸易目前仍然是以伦敦和纽约为中心。去年，伦敦黄金市场的成交量达到了5万亿美元(约合3.5万亿英镑)。

ICBC Standard Bank’s head of commodities Mark Buncombe said the purchase "enables us to better execute on our strategy to become one of the largest Chinese banks in the precious metals market".

中国工行标准银行商品部负责人马克·邦科姆说，这笔交易“使我们能够更好地执行我们的战略，成为贵金属市场上最大的中国银行之一。”

Last week, ICBC became a member of London’s precious metals clearing system, which is where trades are settled.

上周，中国工行成为了伦敦贵金属结算系统的成员，贵重金属的交易都在这里进行。

As ICBC takes on more Western clients, the bank needs infrastructure close by to store the physical gold or metals.

由于越来越多的西方客户业务，中国工行需要就近的设施来储存实体黄金和其他贵重金属。

Barclays, meanwhile, is exiting the precious metals business as part of a restructuring aimed at making the bank smaller and more focused.

而与此同时，巴克莱银行正在推出贵金属市场。这家银行真计划重组，使得自己更小、更专注。

The vault is one of the largest in Europe and took more than a year to build.

被交易的这个金库是欧洲最大的金库之一，耗费了一年的时间来建造。

It was opened in 2012 by Barclays, which says it is located within the M25 motorway that circles London.

巴克莱银行在2012年将其投入使用。据称，该金库位于环绕伦敦的M25高速公路上(的某段)。

The London bullion market has seven providers of vault storage services, including the Bank of England, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase.

伦敦黄金市场一共有7家提供仓储服务的供应商，包括英国银行，汇丰银行和摩根大通。