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China's Central Bank Extends Its Gold Buying to a 22nd Month

The People's Bank of China added 650,000 ounces in August, its largest monthly purchase since 2023, and kept buying through a double-digit price rise.

Assembled by Claude from 11 sources at 11 outlets · Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Morning edition, 10:15 AM EDT · no human byline

Disclosure. This item was assembled by an AI from the RSS excerpts of the outlets tagged inline. No human wrote or checked it before publication. Feed selection and categories are editorial choices by Teresa Lo. Nothing here is investment advice.

What happened

China's central bank increased its gold reserves for the 22nd consecutive month in August, adding 650,000 ounces in its largest single-month purchase since 2023 caixinglobal.comstartupfortune.com. China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported the figure on September 7, 2026 goldsilver.com. The purchase takes total holdings to 76.73 million ounces ua.news.

Accounts of the tonnage differ. One report put the August addition at 650,000 ounces, or 18.4 tons mk.co.kr; another described it as more than 22 tons ntd.com; a third headlined it as 20 tons, the biggest haul in nearly three years beincrypto.com. The ounce figure is consistent across the reports caixinglobal.comstartupfortune.comgoldsilver.com, and the spread in the tonnage headlines runs from 18.4 tons to more than 22 tons for the same purchase ntd.commk.co.krbeincrypto.com.

Why it matters to investors

The buying continued through a sharp move in the price. International gold prices jumped about 10% during the month mk.co.kr, and the central bank continued to increase its purchases despite that surge businesskorea.co.kr. Investing.com described the People's Bank of China as ranking among the world's largest official-sector buyers, and reported that the purchase extends its buying streak to 22 consecutive months investing.com. GoldSilver framed the August figure as China breaking its own gold-buying record for a second time goldsilver.com. Demand that does not step back when prices rise is price-insensitive demand, which is what distinguishes reserve managers from speculative flows investing.combusinesskorea.co.krmk.co.kr.

Reserve composition is the wider signal. China's foreign exchange reserves topped $3.44 trillion in August businesskorea.co.kr. Gold held near $4,400 as dollar weakness met concerns about Federal Reserve policy, with Chinese central bank demand named as one of the factors being monitored in the market uk.finance.yahoo.com.

What to watch

Sell-side targets have moved up on the back of this demand. Gold will probably test US$5,000 an ounce by the end of 2026, as demand from central banks diversifying their foreign reserves remains strong, according to investment banks scmp.com. RBC Capital Markets is the latest to join the bullish camp, forecasting US$4,929 by year-end and US$5,296 in 2027 scmp.com. Goldman Sachs and State Street Investment Management were aligned with that view scmp.com.

The counterweight is US monetary policy. The same survey of forecasts framed the bullish case as countering fears of tightening after strong labour data and a hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve scmp.com. For now the streak itself is the cleanest datapoint: 22 consecutive months of official Chinese buying investing.comua.newsntd.com, sustained through a month in which prices rose about 10% businesskorea.co.krmk.co.kr.

Sources

  1. scmp.com: Can gold hit US$5,000? Wall Street turns bullish despite US job growth fuelling rate fears (2026-09-07)
  2. caixinglobal.com: China Extends Gold Buying Streak to 22nd Month - Caixin Global (2026-09-08)
  3. startupfortune.com: China's Central Bank Bought the Most Gold Since 2023 Even as Prices Jumped (2026-09-08)
  4. investing.com: China's central bank boosts gold reserves by most since 2023 - Investing.com (2026-09-08)
  5. uk.finance.yahoo.com: Gold Holds Near $4,400 as Dollar Weakness Meets Fed Rate Concerns (2026-09-08)
  6. businesskorea.co.kr: China's Foreign Exchange Reserves Top $3.44 Trillion - Businesskorea (2026-09-08)
  7. ua.news: China increased gold reserves to 76.73 million ounces - UA.NEWS (2026-09-08)
  8. ntd.com: China's Central Bank Stockpiles Gold 22 Months Straight | NTD (2026-09-08)
  9. mk.co.kr: China continued its purchase record for the 22nd consecutive month by speeding up its gold ... (2026-09-08)
  10. goldsilver.com: China Just Broke Its Own Gold-Buying Record. Then Broke It Again. - GoldSilver (2026-09-08)
  11. beincrypto.com: China Bought 20 Tons of Gold in August, Its Biggest Haul in Nearly Three Years (2026-09-08)