China has increased its gold reserves for an 11th month in a row, according to official data released by the country’s central bank.
The report shows that the volume of the precious metal held by the People’s Bank of China soared by 840,000 troy ounces in September, an equivalent of 26 tons of bullion.
The country’s total reserves currently stand at 2,191 tons, with about 217 tons added in a run of purchases that started in November 2022.
In September, Huang Jun, an analyst at financial trading platform FXTM, was quoted by Chinese media as saying that, "It is very likely for the People's Bank of China to further boost its gold reserves."
"As China reduces holdings in US debt, the country needs to increase holdings in other assets, and gold is a rare, high-quality credit asset in the current environment," Huang pointed out.
According to the analyst, the trend of China and many other developing economies bolstering their gold reserves may continue to support gold prices in the mid and long term. In the short term, though, gold prices may feel the pressure of the US dollar, Huang added.
Chinese scholar and finance author Sun Xiaoji, in turn, claimed that the country’s Central Bank is actively increasing its gold holdings as it hasn't excluded a scenario where it may be expelled from the global US dollar payment system.
“Domestically, the Chinese Communist Party advertises that it is ‘proactively challenging the United States and de-dollarizing,’ but the real reason is that it knows it will be sanctioned by the United States sooner or later. Therefore it is looking for an alternative to the US dollar, and the only alternative is gold,” Sun argued.
On the other hand, China’s national currency, the yuan, has shown signs of strengthening in the past. Official data cited by Chinese media outlets indicates that the yuan has become the world's fifth-largest payment currency, third-largest currency in trade settlement, and fifth-largest reserve currency.