China moves the global gold market in the first half of 2023

China, which is the largest consumer of gold in the world, witnessed an increase in consumption growth during the first half of the year by 16.37% compared to the same period in 2022 worth 554.88 tons of gold, according to data from the China Gold Association.

In contrast, China’s gold production increased during the same period by 2.24%, as the country produced 178.6 tons of gold, while crude gold imports to China jumped by 17.5% with a total of 65 tons.

With the return of the Chinese economy to recovery, gold consumption in China rose to gain significant momentum, and the World Gold Council announced that the Central Bank of China bought 21 tons of gold last June, marking the eighth consecutive month of Chinese central gold purchases, with a total of 165 tons of Gold, bringing China’s gold reserves now to 2113 tons.

In 2022, China’s gold consumption shrank by 10.63 percent to 1,002 tons for the whole year, before China began continuous gold purchases as part of a strategy to bring more international credibility to its currency, the Chinese yuan.

China has the fifth largest gold reserves in the world and China’s gold purchases are not expected to end anytime soon, as China needs to reach the third or second place in gold reserves to achieve sufficient support for its currency to become a global currency.