China is climbing higher among the countries with the largest gold reserves in the world. After recent purchases, the Middle Kingdom secured the fifth position, widening its advantage in terms of the number of tonnes of precious metal held over Russia. It is now 2,346.4 tonnes, which represents a little over 8% of the country’s total reserve assets. That is little, especially when we compare China to countries such as the USA or Germany, where the share is 83.1% and 82.8% respectively.
|
Largest global gold reserves
|
|
No.
|
Country
|
Number of gold tonnes
|
|
1.
|
USA
|
8133.5
|
|
2.
|
Germany
|
3349.5
|
|
3.
|
Italy
|
2451.8
|
|
4.
|
France
|
2437
|
|
5.
|
China
|
2346.4
|
|
6.
|
Russia
|
2292.3
|
|
7.
|
Switzerland
|
1039.9
|
|
8.
|
India
|
880.2
|
|
9.
|
Japan
|
846
|
|
10.
|
Poland
|
613.9
|
|
Data: WGC, NBP, PBOC – as of May/June 2026.
|
China buys gold in bulk
The People’s Bank of China has been buying gold continuously for 20 months, since November 2024. But that’s not the only noteworthy point. The volume of bullion purchased is also striking. In June, China’s reserves grew by almost 14.3 tonnes of gold (480,000 troy ounces). These are the largest purchases since October 2023. China already holds 2,346.44 tonnes of gold (75.44 million troy ounces). At least that is what official data from the Chinese central bank shows.
Why such large purchases? Experts say China wants to take advantage of falling bullion prices. In June gold fell 11.9%, recording its lowest price since November 2025. In previous months when the People’s Bank of China accumulated more tonnes of precious metal, discounts were also recorded, though not as pronounced as now.
According to data from the Chinese central bank, China increased its reserves by over 40 tonnes. Since the start of the 20‑month buying spree, the gold in the Chinese vault has risen by 82.1 tonnes.
The value of 2,346.44 tonnes of gold that China already holds is estimated at almost 303 billion dollars.
How much gold does China actually have?
While official figures from the People’s Bank of China indicate gold reserves of 2,346.44 tonnes, there are voices suggesting that this number may be significantly understated. Such suggestions come, among others, from representatives of the World Gold Council, who claim that China may be buying far more gold than it officially reports.
According to estimates from Société Générale, as reported by Comparic.pl, actual purchases could be up to ten times higher than the figures published by the People’s Bank of China.
Experts say China may be hiding the true amount of gold it holds to reduce the economy’s dependence on the dollar. They add that by accumulating a huge amount of gold, China wants to build a position for this metal as its own global hedge.
Based on unverified estimates used by some experts, China could already hold over 5,000 tonnes of gold, which would place it second behind the United States among countries with the largest gold reserves.
See also: Gold price – forecast for the coming days. Why gold keeps falling?
