China's gold reserve zooms nearly 60 per cent in six years

BEIJING: China's gold reserves touched a record 1,658 tonnes by June, 2015, zooming nearly 60 per cent since April 2009, the central bank of the world's largest gold producer said today.

Gold prices have retreated from a historic high in recent years and the central bank gradually accumulated the reserves through various channels, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said.

The channels include domestic scrap gold, production storage and trade in domestic and overseas markets, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the central bank as saying.

China is the world's largest gold producer and a major consumer.

China produced 428 tonnes of gold in 2013. Consumption has also been growing fast. Gold jewelery sales volume stood at 400 billion yuan in 2013.

China's gold reserves have trailed those of its international counterparts despite the huge consumption.

In 2014, China's gold reserves stood at 1054 tonnes. That accounts for only 1.1 per cent of the country's foreign reserve. In contrast, gold accounts for over 65 per cent of foreign reserves in countries such as the US, Germany and Italy, the state media had reported last year.