£
Currency

China Buys More Gold again!

Author: Ian Davis - Chief Operations Officer

Published: 15 Mar 2019

Last Updated: 1 Feb 2023

Synopsis

China added 32 tonnes to its holdings, continuing the buying streak by central banks.

The World Gold Council reported that by Q4 2018 China officially had 1852.51 tonnes of gold reserves and since have increased their holdings to 1864.32 tonnes. China added 32 tonnes to its holdings in the past 3 months, continuing the buying streak by central banks in 2018. Last year central banks were responsible for an uplift in the gold market adding some at 651.6 tonnes in total breaking decades of records and putting gold firmly back in the spotlight. Russia alone forked out on 274 tonnes in a record buying spree. Data below from the World Gold Council, accurate as of 14 March 2019, showing the top 10 countries by tonnage. The UK in contrast is 18th in the world “league” table and holds a measly 310.3 tonnes which is 7.5% of total reserves. It can be seen even with the recent binge on godl China still holds a very small amount of gold in relation to total reserves and the same can be said for Switzerland, Japan and India. The differences are quite stark and we think you will agree.

  Tonnes % of Reserves
United States 8,133.5 75.0%
Germany 3,369.7 70.6%
Italy 2,451.8 66.9%
France 2,436.0 60.8%
Russia 2,119.2 18.9%
Mainland China 1,864.3 2.5%
Switzerland 1,040.0 5.6%
Japan 765.2 2.5%
Netherlands 612.5 65.7%
India 607.0 6.4%

The IMF slots in at position 3 but I have omitted this for a country by country comparison. 

You may wish to read more articles in our market news section. 

Related Blog Articles

This guide and its content is copyright of Chard (1964) Ltd - © Chard (1964) Ltd 2024. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.

We are not financial advisers and we would always recommend that you consult with one prior to making any investment decision.

You can read more about copyright or our advice disclaimer on these links.