China imported more than 1,000 tons of gold in the first eight months of 2026, spending a record $158.8 billion.

This far eclipses the 866 tons and $96.5 billion the country bought in all of 2025, showing that, as bullion prices retreated, appetite for the metal has accelerated.

From the outside, the second-largest global economy is short on alternatives. Property values remain depressed since the 2021 collapse; the CSI 300 index is down around 3.7% year-to-date and still more than a fifth below its early-2021 peak. 

Meanwhile, Chinese government bond yields sit near record lows, while US Treasury holdings fell to $618 billion in July, the lowest since August 2008.

"Both the central bank and private investors are diversifying their reserves and savings towards an asset with no counterparty risk, as part of a broader long-term wealth preservation strategy," Lisa Liu, managing director at Gold Mountains Asset Management (Zijin Mining Group), said according to the Financial Times.

"This isn’t a short-term trade; it’s a multiyear repositioning of household and official assets," she added.

Hoarding the Bullion

Official demand is running hotter than disclosed. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated the PBOC bought 35 tons in July – far above the 20 tons it reported. Meanwhile, sovereign reassessment of jurisdiction risk is spreading, as the Dutch government shifted part of its reserves from New York to London last month.

Meanwhile, currency strength is also becoming a factor.

"The yuan has remained strong since the beginning of this year, creating favorable conditions for gold imports and enabling regulators to grant more generous approval quotas," said Zijie Wu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures Co.

A new licensing regime from June likely pushed banks to exhaust existing quotas. According to Bloomberg, Chinese gold ETFs added roughly 44 tons through August, an 18% increase from the start of the year, while global ETFs were largely flat.

The old relationship between real yields and gold has also frayed. Bonds can move nominally higher, but when inflation is included, real yield is the ultimate driver of interest.

The Miners Break Away

The equity market is telling a different story from the spot tape. Bullion has consolidated lower since retreating from its January peak of nearly $5,600 an ounce and is now basically flat year-to-date.

Newmont Corp (NYSE:NEM), the largest global miner, which roughly tracked the metal through the year, broke out sharply in August, decoupling to a fresh all-time high.

Spot Gold vs Newmont, year-to-date; Source: Trading View

The divergence reflects a structural bottleneck. Many endowments, pension funds and mutual funds operate under long-only equity mandates that bar direct commodity futures or physical accumulation.

When that capital decides to go after the metal, the largest, most liquid mining equities become a compliant proxy for capital following China’s reserve-accumulation cycle. Furthermore, they offer dividends, buybacks, and unhedged production that bars in a vault cannot.

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