The country is reportedly allowing domestic and international banks to import large quantities of the precious metal.
Regulators in China are relaxing controls of the import of gold under the country's quota system, allowing billions in bullion to enter the country in recent weeks, according to a «Reuters» report, citing several industry sources.
«We had no quotas for a while. Now we are getting them ... the most since 2019,» one of its sources, who works at a bank moving gold into China, told the news wire, which said that the country has imported on average $600 million, or 10 tons, of gold a month since February 2020, compared to $3.5 billion a month, or roughly 75 tonnes, in 2019.
Rebounding Economy
Chinese appetite for gold jewelry, bars and coins has recovered, along with a rebounding economy in the country, the world's largest gold consumer, following an extended lull due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Since January, domestic prices have been higher than global benchmark rates, making it profitable to import bullion. To satiate demand, around 150 tons of gold, worth $8.5 billion at current prices, are likely to be shipped, several sources told «Reuters,» noting that the gold would arrive in April, or over April-May.
China's GDP grew by 18.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, the fastest in three decades. Retail sales soared 33.9 percent, fixed-asset investment jumped 25.6 percent, and industrial production gained by over 24.5 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Pick-Up in India
India, which announced reduced import levies on the precious metal in its latest budget, in a bid to reduce the scale of the gray economy, also recorded record-breaking imports of gold, which reached 160 tons in March, an Indian government source told «Reuters.»
The World Gold Council previously told finews.asia that investment demand in gold is likely to persist in 2021, with sustained interest in the precious metal as a way to hedge against risk, given the prolonged period of low interest rates and ballooning budget deficits.
