China imported more than 1,000 tonnes of gold in eight months — CNBC
In the first eight months of 2026, China imported more than 1,000 tonnes of gold worth a record $158.8 billion. This exceeded the figures for all of 2025, when the country imported 886 tonnes of the metal worth $96.5 billion. In September, the People’s Bank of China increased its gold reserves by approximately 23 tonnes — the largest monthly purchase in nearly three years. As CNBC reports, the central bank has been buying gold for 23 consecutive months — the longest such streak since at least 2015.
Reserve diversification
Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke believes that Beijing’s main motive is the desire to reduce dependence on the US dollar and US government bonds as reserve assets. In his assessment, the freezing by Western governments of the assets of Russia’s central bank — an aggressor state — after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 demonstrated the risks of restrictions on foreign reserves amid geopolitical tensions.
According to the US Treasury Department, in July the volume of Chinese investments in US Treasury securities fell to an 18-year low of $618 billion. Menke also estimated the People’s Bank of China’s gold purchases from the beginning of the year through the end of August at approximately 190 tonnes, of which around 110 tonnes were not officially disclosed.
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Household demand and prices
Chinese households and companies are buying jewelry, bars and coins, seeking a safe-haven asset amid a weak economy. The real estate market, which had been one of the main ways of preserving savings, is experiencing a multi-year downturn, while the CSI 300 index has fallen by approximately 8% since the beginning of the year. The yield on one-year Chinese government bonds stood at around 1.2%, compared with approximately 4.46% in the United States.
In September, the price of gold fell by more than 8% — to approximately $4,176 per troy ounce after a January peak above $5,500. ING strategist Ewa Manthey noted that Chinese demand had become an important factor supporting prices. As of August, China held 2,387 tonnes of gold and ranked fifth in the world by gold reserves, according to the World Gold Council.
