As gold prices set fresh record highs day after day and continue to surge, China is striving to secure gold at home and abroad. There is also an estimate that China holds far more gold than has been disclosed.

On the 28th, Nikkei Asia reported that ANZ estimated that China holds about 5,500t of gold. That is roughly double the amount China has made public. If that estimate is correct, China would rank second in the world for gold holdings after the United States (about 8,000t).

According to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, as of the end of last year China held about 74.15 million troy ounces (about 2,306t) of gold. The People’s Bank of China has purchased gold for 14 consecutive months through this month, and in November last year the share of gold in total foreign exchange reserves exceeded 9% for the first time.

China accelerated its gold accumulation after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. In June last year, through the ‘Plan to Promote High-Quality Development of the Gold Industry (2025~2027)’, it signaled a 5% increase in gold and silver production by 2027. It also called for consolidating small mines, as with rare earths, and managing them proactively.

Since then, reports have followed of gold deposits being discovered across the country. The Ministry of Natural Resources of China stated that in November last year, a domestic gold deposit with more than 1,000t in reserves was discovered in the Liaodong area of Liaoning Province. The Yantai city government in Shandong Province announced at the end of last year that Asia’s largest undersea gold deposit, with more than 3,900t in reserves, had been discovered in the northern waters off Sanshandao, Laizhou.

China is also moving aggressively to secure overseas gold mines. The Chinese mining company CMOC acquired three Brazilian mines for $1 billion (about 1.42 trillion won) late last year and began operations on the 23rd. The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post assessed that this shows China is also seeking to secure strategic resources in response to U.S. President Donald Trump announcing that he would focus U.S. interests on the Western Hemisphere.

By contrast, China has reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries. According to ANZ, China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell below $700 billion (about 997 trillion won). That is about half of the peak and amounts to only around 2% of the $38 trillion in U.S. government debt (about 54 quadrillion won).

Nikkei Asia assessed that China is reducing its holdings in consideration of the credit risks surrounding U.S. Treasuries while also suggesting that it is securing strategic resources in preparation for competition with the United States. However, it also noted an interpretation that if China wanted to gain leverage over the United States, it would have increased its Treasury holdings instead, and that it is simply increasing its gold holdings because there is nowhere to invest amid uncertainty.

The price of gold, considered a representative safe asset, surpassed $5,200 per ounce for the first time ever that day. This is seen as the result of heightened investor anxiety driven by the unpredictable course of President Trump and overlapping geopolitical crises.