China extends its gold shopping spree to five months, buying 18 tonnes in March

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By Neils Christensen and Anna Golubova
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(Kitco News) -China’s appetite for gold remains insatiable as the latest data from the People’s Bank of China bought 18 tonnes of gold last month.

China’s gold shopping spree hit its fifth consecutive month; Krishan Gopaul, senior European, Middle East and Asian market analyst, said that since November the nation has bought 120 tonnes of gold.

“Total gold reserves now amount to 2,068 tonnes,” he said in his Twitter comment.

According to many analysts, China’s dominating presents in the precious metal market is completely changing the investment landscape, creating solid value for investors.

Bob Minter, director of ETF Investment Strategy at abrdn, said that in the current environment, with solid support in the market, its only a matter of time before gold prices hit new record highs. He also added that with so much uncertainty surging through financial markets having an overweight position in gold would be a good insurance policy.

China’s latest gold prices were made as gold prices rose more than 7% last month and prices saw its highest monthly closing price on Record.

Analysts note that China is expected to continue to increase its official gold reserves as it builds international credibility for the yuan. China continues to make important strides as it competes with the U.S. dollar as a world reserve currency.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, Paul Wong, market strategist at Sprott, said that the dedollarization trend is not going away anytime soon and is providing long-term support for gold. He noted that nations have to be strategic as they diversify their holdings and can’t just dump all the U.S. dollars they are holding.

“if you are breaking into different economic blocks, and tensions arising across the board, cross the political spectrum, you want to get off those US dollar assets, your only choice is to buy gold.”

China’s latest reserve update comes after, Global gold reserves increased by 52 tonnes in February, rising for the 11th month in a row, the WGC said last week.

Year-to-date, central banks' net purchases stand at 125 tonnes. "This is the strongest start to a year back to at least 2010 – when central banks became net buyers on an annual basis," said Gopaul in the report.


Central bank gold buying update: 2023 sees the strongest start to a year in more than a decade

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Neils Christensen

Neils Christensen has a diploma in journalism from Lethbridge College and has more than a decade of reporting experience working for news organizations throughout Canada. His experiences include covering territorial and federal politics in Nunavut, Canada. He has worked exclusively within the financial sector since 2007, when he started with the Canadian Economic Press. Neils can be contacted at: 1 866 925 4826 ext. 1526 nchristensen at kitco.com @KitcoNewsNOW

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Anna Golubova

Anna Golubova is the Producer for Kitco News. With more than ten years of experience in media, she has covered a range of topics, focusing on economy and politics. Anna began to exclusively cover economic news in 2013, attending media lockups at the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada to report on a range of key macro economic events, including interest rate announcements, GDP, unemployment, and retail. She holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from NPSIA, Carleton and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from the University of Ottawa.

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