China Accelerates Gold Stockpiling Amid Strategic Reserve Shifts
China has quietly expanded its gold reserves by an estimated 270 tons in 2025—ten times more than officially reported—as the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) executes a shadow accumulation strategy. December’s 0.9-ton purchase marked the 14th consecutive month of covert buying, with Goldman Sachs estimating actual acquisitions at 15 tons versus the PBoC’s disclosed 1.5 tons.
The divergence between reported and actual purchases, first noted during the Ukraine conflict, suggests Beijing is preparing for systemic financial instability. April 2025 saw unprecedented off-book acquisitions, with reserves now allegedly multiples of IMF disclosures. ‘China is buying gold as if the world were in a major crisis,’ observed the Kobeissi Letter.