Brendon Thorne | Bloomberg | Getty Images
China’s central bank added gold to its reserves in May for the seventh straight month, official data from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Saturday.
Spot prices for gold, often seen as a refuge from economic and geopolitical uncertainty, were steady in May after hitting an all-time high of $3,500 per ounce in April.
China’s gold reserves rose to 73.83 million fine troy ounces at the end of May from 73.77 million ounces at the end of April.
Its gold reserves were valued at $241.99 billion at the end of last month, down from $243.59 billion at the end of April, the PBOC said.
With bullion up 27% so far this year due to tariff war fears on top of 27% growth in 2024, gold market specialists say the PBOC’s readiness to continue building up gold holdings despite high prices reflects Beijing’s desire to diversify its foreign currency reserves.
Officials at the PBOC have not publicly said what was driving the gold purchases. In 2024, the PBOC took a six-month pause after an 18-month-long gold purchasing spree, before resuming buying gold in November, when Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.
The world’s central banks are on track to buy 1,000 metric tons of gold in 2025, which would be their fourth year of massive purchases as they diversify reserves from dollar-denominated assets into bullion, consultancy Metals Focus said this week.