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TOKYO — One of the worst-kept secrets in global central banking is the extent to which Chinese officials are swapping dollars for gold. Governor Yi Gang’s team at the People’s Bank of China isn’t admitting as much. The PBOC doesn’t have to, though, given the clear policy trajectory Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pursued in recent years: internationalizing of the yuan as the top rival to the dollar. Xi’s position hasn’t changed so much as other governments are catching on that trust is waning in the global reserve currency and an alternative to the dollar is badly needed. Particularly as...

China is expected shortly to launch a crude oil futures contract priced in yuan and convertible into gold in what analysts say could be a game-changer for the industry. The contract could become the most important Asia-based crude oil benchmark, given that China is the world's biggest oil importer. Crude oil is usually priced in relation to Brent or West Texas Intermediate futures, both denominated in U.S. dollars. China's move will allow exporters such as Russia and Iran to circumvent U.S. sanctions by trading in yuan. To further entice trade, China says the yuan will be fully convertible into gold...

China is now the world’s biggest importer of Australian gold, as 77 percent were exported to China during the first quarter of 2017, according to Resources and Energy Quarterly released by Australian Government. Australia exported 57.6-metric-tons of gold to the Chinese mainland and the special administrative region of Hong Kong in the first quarter of the year, a 54.4 percent year-on-year growth compared to last year. Data shows that China’s demand for Australian gold has been increasing over the past years, reaching a new high in 2017. China’s top exporters of gold are Australia and the U.S. Hong Kong and...

ICBC Standard Bank just made a huge bet on gold. Although the details weren't disclosed, China's largest bank now owns one of just seven secret gold vaults hidden in London in what is something of an exclusive gold market. Here's what you need to know. A piece of the action China's ICBC is the world's largest bank by assets. And according to the BBC, China accounts for roughly 25% of global gold demand. So clearly, ICBC needs to be involved in the gold trade in a big way. However, China isn't the world's hub for gold trading; that distinction goes...

China's government doesn' share exact figures, but the vast majority of gold heading into mainland China passes through Hong Kong, which does make its records public. Gold imports to China have surged over 700% since 2010, according to the latest data from Hong Kong. Exactly what China is doing with all that gold remains somewhat of a mystery. The increasingly wealthy Chinese are buying, but that doesn'txplain all the jump in demand. The government says its gold reserves have grown only a little in recent years. Experts question whether China is telling the whole truth. "hina has a lot more...

One month ago, when everyone suspected that the PBOC's dramatic, 57% jump in gold holdings after a 6 year silence, to a "record" 1658 tons would be a "one-and-done" event, meant to facilitate China's admission into the SDR, we disagreed. This is what we said: ... now that the seal has been finally broken after so many years, and since today's update indicates that Chinese gold numbers are clearly goal-seeked with a specific policy purpose - to boost confidence - we await for the PBOC to start leaking incremental gold holding data every month (and especially in months when...

Opinion: Why China probably has a lot more gold than it admits By David Marsh Published: July 20, 2015 11:48 a.m. ET Transparency on holdings linked to review by the IMF on joining the special drawing right China has lifted a veil over its gold holdings and confirmed its interest in providing more up-to-date reserves data by announcing a near 60% jump in its official bullion assets since 2009. /snip The PBoC said its gold reserves were 1,658 tons against 1,054 tons in April 2009, which was the last time China declared its gold holdings. In 2009 the reserves total...

A curious story, and one which should be taken with a mine of salt, has surfaced out of the pro-Russian newspaper Iskra, which reports - so far on an entirely unsubstantiated basis - that last Friday, in a mysterious operation under the cover of night, Ukraine's gold reserves were promptly loaded onboard an unmarked plane, which subsequently took the gold to the US. From the source: Tonight, around at 2:00 am, an unregistered transport plane took off took off from Boryspil airport. According to Boryspil staff, prior to the plane's appearance, four trucks and two cargo minibuses arrived at the...

Concerns about high debt and an overvalued currency are sucking gold imports into China, according to a new report from Lombard Street Research. It adds that the authorities may possibly be moving in the direction of using gold in a plan to make the yuan an international currency. China's official reserves of gold stand at 1,054 metric tons, that's worth about $45 billion. This figure has not been updated since 2009 and Lombard says the number may not be accurate because since that last update imports of gold and domestic production amount to over 4,500 metric tons.

Gold price bulls and bears have been equally matched over the past few months, as the price has traded in a tight trading range since the end of May. Is this going to change anytime soon? Most of the gold bulls currently have their eggs in the quantitative easing basket Currently, gold is at the top of this $1,550 (£987) to $1,620 an ounce range, but market watchers are split on what will happen next, with the gold price bulls and bears both having plenty of fodder to support their case. A Bloomberg poll of gold analysts released on Friday...

China sets national standards for 'high pure gold' Xinhua | September 16, 2011 16:57 Authorities have released the first national standards on "high pure gold," a move that is likely to boost the country's gold consumption. "High pure gold," as it is called in the standards, refers to the gold with purity of 99.999 percent, or "five nines," and is also the highest purity so far, a spokesman with the National Gold Standardization Technical Committee said Friday. Generally speaking, a gold ornament with an amount of metal reaching 99 percent is called "pure gold," and more than 99 percent is...

Wondering why gold at $1850 is cheap, or why gold at double that price will also be cheap, or frankly at any price? Because, as the following leaked cable explains, gold is, to China at least, nothing but the opportunity cost of destroying the dollar's reserve status. Putting that into dollar terms is, therefore, impractical at best, and illogical at worst. We have a suspicion that the following cable from the US embassy in China is about to go not viral but very much global, and prompt all those mutual fund managers who are on the golden sidelines to dip...

China's gold imports surge fivefold By Leslie Hook and Robert Cookson, FT.com (FT) -- Gold imports into China have soared this year, turning the country, already the largest bullion miner, into a major overseas buyer for the first time in recent memory. The surge, which comes as Chinese investors look for insurance against rising inflation and currency appreciation, puts Beijing on track to overtake India as the world's largest consumer of gold and a significant force in global gold prices. The size of the imports -- more than 209 tonnes of gold during the first 10 months of the year,...

China revealed on Friday that it had secretly raised its gold reserves by three-quarters since 2003, increasing its holdings to 1,054 tonnes - or a pot worth about US$30.9-billion - and confirming years of speculation it had been buying. Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told Xinhua news agency in an interview that the country's reserves had risen by 454 tonnes from 600 tonnes since 2003, when China last adjusted its state gold reserves figure. The confirmation of its surreptitious stockpiling is likely to fuel market talk about Beijing's ability to buy secretly and its ambitions...