Without a doubt, the Chinese central bank (PBoC) is still the leading single entity that is driving up the gold price to record highs, year-to-date by more than 55 percent. In the third quarter of 2025, the PBoC’s gold purchases (reported and unreported) accounted for 118 tonnes, up 39% MoM and 55% YoY, according to my long-time methodology1 (now copied by Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, The Washington Post, TIME magazine, Financial Times, Financiele Dagblad, and El País, to name a few). Chart 1. Reported central bank gold buying versus estimates by the World Gold Council on central bank gold buying...