(Bloomberg) — Chinese gold imports are at record levels this year, helped by a slump in international prices and a firmer yuan.
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Purchases through August topped 1,000 tons, surpassing the total posted for the whole of 2025, according to the latest customs data, which goes back to 2017. Strong investment demand has kept onshore prices at a slight premium to world benchmarks, enticing imports, said Zijie Wu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures Co.
“The yuan has remained strong since the beginning of this year, creating favorable conditions for gold imports and enabling regulators to grant more generous approval quotas,” said Wu.
Chinese exchange-traded funds added around 44 tons through August, an increase of 18% from the start of the year, according to the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Global ETFs were largely flat over the period.
The large import volumes of recent months continue the momentum of earlier in the year, when gold’s slump from an all-time high in January prompted investors to buy the dip. Purchases were also likely lifted by a new licensing regime from June that would have encouraged banks to exhaust existing import quotas, which are handed out by the People’s Bank of China.
China is the world’s biggest gold buyer, and demand has been supported both by economic uncertainty and more limited investment alternatives than in other countries.
The central bank’s ramp-up of gold purchases in recent months has also lifted sentiment among retail buyers, said Wu. The PBOC bought the most bullion since 2023 in August, extending its buying streak to nearly two years.
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