PBOC Extends Gold Buying to a 24th Month with Largest Purchase Since 2024 Restart

Gold reserves extended their accumulation streak and once again set a new high for monthly purchases in the current phase.

Central bank data released on November 7 showed China's gold reserves at 78.30 million ounces at the end of October, up 830,000 ounces month on month. That marks 24 consecutive months of gold purchases, with the monthly increase the largest since the central bank resumed buying in November 2024.

Pang Ming, a member of the China Chief Economist Forum, said 24 straight months of accumulation reflects a policy orientation of continuously optimising the structure of international reserve assets. With the global economic and financial environment still carrying considerable uncertainty, gold combines safe-haven and reserve asset attributes and provides a good risk hedge against the currency assets held in FX reserves. Continued purchases help diversify international reserve assets and improve the stability and shock resistance of the overall reserve portfolio.

Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Oriental Jincheng, attributed the buying fundamentally to new shifts in the global political and economic landscape since the current US administration took office. That means even with gold prices still elevated, the case for adding gold has strengthened from the perspective of optimising the reserve structure. As of the end of October 2026, gold accounted for about 7.9% of China's official international reserves — composed mainly of FX reserves and gold — down 0.5 percentage point from a month earlier, largely reflecting the decline in international gold prices.

Globally, central bank gold buying has become a structural trend. The World Gold Council's Gold Demand Trends report for the third quarter of 2026 showed net purchases by central banks and other official institutions of 321 tonnes in the quarter, up 42% year on year and the highest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2024, with reserve diversification and risk management still the core drivers. Year to date in 2026, central banks have bought 675 tonnes, up 6% from the same period a year earlier.

Notably, the large October purchase came during a pullback in international gold prices. In October, spot gold and gold futures both fell, declining 6.79% and 7.21% respectively for the month — a second consecutive monthly drop.

"The central bank has raised its purchase volume for eight consecutive months," Wang Qing said, noting that the Federal Reserve's resumption of rate hikes in September, two consecutive months of sharp declines in international gold prices in October, and mounting concerns over fiscal sustainability in developed economies such as the US, Europe and Japan were likely the direct reasons for the accelerated buying in October.

Data published by the European Central Bank on June 2 showed that gold accounted for 27% of the total reserve assets of central banks worldwide at the end of 2025, up from 20% a year earlier.

Wang Qing said this implies China's gold share is clearly low and leaves considerable room for further accumulation. Gold is also a widely accepted final means of payment, and central bank purchases can strengthen sovereign currency credibility and create favourable conditions for steadily advancing RMB internationalisation. Weighing all factors, continued central bank gold purchases remain the broad direction.

At the end of October 2026, China's FX reserves rose to US$3,405.178 billion, an increase of US$4.927 billion from the end of September. Pang Ming said that against a complex and volatile external environment, ample FX reserves and a continuously optimised gold reserve structure not only help safeguard national financial security but will also continue to provide important support for keeping the RMB exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.