China Loading Up on Gold

China’s central bank continues to load up on gold –Financial Times
“China has added almost 100 tons of gold to its reserves over the last ten months, underlining its position as one of the leading central bank buyers of the precious metal. The People’s Bank of China announced over the weekend that its holdings of the yellow metal rose to 62.64m ounces in September, an increase of 190,000 ounces from August. The increase of nearly 5.4 tons of gold to China’s holdings – bringing the total additions since December to about 96 tons – comes at a time when central banks across the world have been trying to diversify their reserve assets away from the US dollar as trade tensions continue to simmer. Gold is considered a haven asset and a store of value in times of uncertainty. Central banks, led by Russia, bought more gold last year than at any time since America decided to move off the gold standard in 1971, with around $27bn worth of purchases. So far this year a total of 14 central banks, primarily from emerging markets, have bolstered their gold reserves, according to data from the World Gold Council….China’s central bank has continued to stock up on bullion as the trade war with the US shows little sign of easing and its domestic economy is slowing.”