China reveals buying over 600 tonnes of gold in last six years

Over the last six years, China has been the world’s second-biggest buyer, figures released on Friday by the country’s central showed.

In its first update since 2009, the People’s Bank of China said it owns about 1,658 metric tonnes of gold, which indicates it purchases approximately 100 tonnes of the metal each year.

“China hasn’t been very open about its strategy, so what matters now is whether the market believes they intend to continue buying,” Joni Teves, an analyst at UBS Group AG in London was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

“They do appear to leave the door open to further purchases, which should limit the downside for gold.”

Since 2009, China bought 604 tonnes of gold over the last six years, second only to Russia according to data from its central bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“We can’t be sure about what China is going to do, the evidence is that they have been buying at a far lower pace than the bugs were expecting,” ICBC Standard Bank’s analyst Leon Westgate told Bloomberg.

“There is no way that the PBOC will ever maintain gold as a fixed percentage of foreign reserves.”