Chinese investors are reportedly hawking gold and appear to be pivoting into local equities.
New data from Bloomberg indicates China’s four major onshore gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed combined net outflows of about 3.2 billion yuan (worth nearly $450 million) so far this month.
Steve Zhou, an analyst at Huaan Fund Management Co., tells Bloomberg that local Chinese retail investors are taking profits in gold and chasing upside in local equities.
The CSI 300 Index, which aims to replicate the performance of the top 300 stocks traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, is up nearly 5.5% in the past month.
Conversely, however, the Chinese government has reportedly been covertly buying much more gold than what public numbers disclose.
Joseph Cavatoni, market strategist at the World Gold Council, tells MarketWatch that there is debate over whether the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) reported purchases fully capture its activity.
Jan Nieuwenhuijs, an analyst at Money Metals, says the Chinese central bank’s gold holdings are likely more than double what is officially reported.
Nieuwenhuijs claims the PBOC held 5,065 metric tons of gold in its reserve at the end of 2024, compared to its reported holdings of 2,280 metric tons.
The latest data from the World Gold Council indicates the Chinese government holds 2,296 tons of gold.
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