China’s gold holdings grew by 604 tons to 1,658 tons since 2009, according to the data from People’s Bank of China revealed on Friday.
The country thus overtook Russia to become the fifth largest holder of gold in the world.
The information has been disclosed after a six-year delay. China’s central bank has reported changes to its gold reserve levels only four times over the last 15 years, according to analysts at UBS.
“The market has been speculating on the size of China’s gold reserves for years and the central bank has always been reticent until now,” Fu Peng, a portfolio manager at Lianzhan Global Macro Fund Management Co., told Bloomberg.
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