LIVE Gold Prices $  | E-Mail Subscriptions | Update GoldSeek | GoldSeek Radio 

Commentary : Gold Review : Markets : News Wire : Quotes : Silver : Stocks - Main Page 

 GoldSeek.com >> News >> Story  Disclaimer 
 
Latest Headlines

GoldSeek.com to Launch New Website
By: GoldSeek.com

Is Gold Price Action Warning Of Imminent Monetary Collapse Part 2?
By: Hubert Moolman

Gold and Silver Are Just Getting Started
By: Frank Holmes, US Funds

Silver Makes High Wave Candle at Target – Here’s What to Expect…
By: Clive Maund

Gold Blows Through Upside Resistance - The Chase Is On
By: Avi Gilburt

U.S. Mint To Reduce Gold & Silver Eagle Production Over The Next 12-18 Months
By: Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report

Gold's sharp rise throws Financial Times into an erroneous sulk
By: Chris Powell, GATA

Precious Metals Update Video: Gold's unusual strength
By: Ira Epstein

Asian Metals Market Update: July-29-2020
By: Chintan Karnani, Insignia Consultants

Gold's rise is a 'mystery' because journalism always fails to pursue it
By: Chris Powell, GATA

 
Search

GoldSeek Web

 
Has China Manipulated the Gold Market?


 -- Published: Wednesday, 29 July 2015 | Print  | Disqus 

The financial press and blogosphere are still exploring the topic of Chinese reserves. Recently, some voices have arisen that China supported the recent plunge of the gold price in order to boost its reserves. Are these opinions justified?

 

The disappointment increase in China’s reserves led to a heated debate. On Friday, two articles were published (here and here), which suggest that China manipulated the gold market by under-reporting its official reserves to lower the gold price and increase its reserves.

 

Well, it is a very interesting twist in the gold perma-bull story. Perma-bulls have been saying for years that Western banksters are behind the manipulation of gold prices, while China is a positive protagonist, who has been buying every possible ton of gold it could buy to undermine the financial control of Western central bankers. Now, the story is that China has handled the gold price, but do not worry – this is good handling enabling China to by even more gold and finally force the West into collapse.

 

This story makes even less sense when we realize that Russia is constantly reporting increases in its gold reserves (it added 800,000 ounces in June to its official holdings). Why do gold-bugs believe in Russia’s official holdings and do not accuse it of price manipulation? Is not Russia interested in the bankruptcy of the U.S. dollar as well as China? In one article linked above we can read: “China is not ready to unsettle the global currency market by announcing how truly large its gold holdings are, because that would call into question the value of U.S. dollars and could be seen as an attack on the dollar”. But Russia apparently is not afraid to reveal its gold reserves. There are also other problems with that suggestion. It implies that China generally wants to dethrone the greenback, but at the moment it is afraid to do so (but when will be the right moment for that?). It also implies that currency wars are not only about artificial depreciation to boost exports, but also about appreciation (by backing the currency with gold). Please, at least choose one version.

 

There is, however, one intriguing puzzle. The increase in gold reserves that the PBOC reported doesn’t seem to square with publically available reports on the amount of Chinese gold production and imports since 2009. According to data, China has produced over 2,000 tons of gold and imported over 3,300 tons through Hong Kong since 2009 (it has imported also from Shanghai, but the numbers are undisclosed). So where is the missing gold? Well, the mined and imported gold did not have to get to the official holdings of the central bank. China is a large country with a lot of entities interested in gold, so the yellow metal could simply get to citizens, banks, large companies and the Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund. Although it is possible that a portion of Chinese gold could easily become a part of the official reserves if need be and that the PBOC is probably able to buy gold in the domestic market, the reality is that the official gold reserves held by the PBOC are only 1,658 tons right now. The allegedly missing gold is not surprising, given the obvious fact that in a country inhabited by 1.4 billion people there are entities interested in holding gold other than the central bank. 

 

Thank you.

 

Arkadiusz Sieron

Sunshine Profits‘ Gold News Monitor and Market Overview Editor

 


| Digg This Article
 -- Published: Wednesday, 29 July 2015 | E-Mail  | Print  | Source: GoldSeek.com

comments powered by Disqus



 



Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizeE-mail Link of Current PagePrinter Friendly PageReturn to GoldSeek.com

 news.goldseek.com >> Story

E-mail Page  | Print  | Disclaimer 


© 1995 - 2019



GoldSeek.com Supports Kiva.org

© GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC

The content on this site is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and is the property of GoldSeek.com and/or the providers of the content under license. By "content" we mean any information, mode of expression, or other materials and services found on GoldSeek.com. This includes editorials, news, our writings, graphics, and any and all other features found on the site. Please contact us for any further information.

Live GoldSeek Visitor Map | Disclaimer


Map

The views contained here may not represent the views of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, its affiliates or advertisers. GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC makes no representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information (including news, editorials, prices, statistics, analyses and the like) provided through its service. Any copying, reproduction and/or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content or materials contained on or within this website, without the express written consent of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, is strictly prohibited. In no event shall GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC or its affiliates be liable to any person for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon the information provided herein.