Official data on China’s gold reserves have remained unchanged at 59.24 million ounces for the past 20 months. And there are still doubts about the figures.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange published figures on China’s currency reserves at the end of June 2018. According to this, the country’s total reserves officially amounted to 3,206.12 billion US dollars. Compared to the previous month there was a small increase of 0.09 percent or 2.89 billion US dollars. China’s gold reserves are estimated at 59.24 million ounces (1,842.56 tons) worth 74.07 billion US dollars. Gold’s share of China’s total reserves was last calculated at 2.3 percent.
This means that the weight of China’s currency gold has remained unchanged for 20 months. And there are still justified doubts about the information. Many analysts assume that China’s central bank already holds significantly more gold. This is particularly due to the fact that between June 2015 and October 2016 there was a monthly increase in gold stocks and no adjustment was made to the figures several years before.
So the guessing game is open. How many tons of gold will China report as official reserves when the figures are actually updated next time? After 2009, six years were taken to report an increase of 57 percent or 603 tons in July 2015.
Various authors have speculated time and again in the past that state gold stocks could be deposited with Chinese commercial banks and jewellery factories. The central government could also fall back on the gold that the population bought after the end of the private gold ban in 2003. For example, when the precious metal is needed as an anchor for a new gold-backed currency.
Goldreporter
