China Adds 20.2 Tonnes of Gold in August, Most Since 2023

China’s reported August gold purchase reached 650,000 ounces, or about 20.22 tonnes, lifting official holdings to 76.73 million ounces. The increase was the largest monthly addition since the People’s Bank of China resumed purchases in November 2024, according to reporting citing PBoC data.2

The August figure changes the immediate assessment from steady accumulation to a renewed larger monthly increment. China had reported a 640,000-ounce increase in July, so August marginally exceeded that pace. The August addition also represented the 22nd consecutive month of reported purchases, following the 21-month streak recorded through July.12

The reported end-August gold stock was approximately 2,386.57 tonnes, valued at an estimated $350.08 billion. That valuation describes the reported end-period reserve holding; it does not disclose the transaction price paid for the August purchases, the timing within the month, or the composition of China’s wider reserve portfolio.2

July data from the World Gold Council provide the clearest comparison for the scale of the buying. Central banks reported net purchases of 23 tonnes during that month, with China buying 20 tonnes and Poland eight tonnes. China’s reported purchase therefore stood close to the entire net monthly total, which also reflected sales by other official holders.1

This is a meaningful change from the earlier focus on quarterly rankings. Prior coverage found that Poland, not China, led reported central-bank buying in the second quarter, and that China’s more-than-20-tonne addition occurred after that period.3 The August reserve disclosure confirms another large Chinese purchase, but it does not alter Poland’s position in the reported Q2 data. It instead establishes that China’s accumulation continued into the following month at its largest pace since purchases resumed.23

China’s July official gold holdings were reported at around 2,366 tonnes, equivalent to 8% of total reserves and the sixth-largest reported sovereign gold holding globally. The World Gold Council reporting also said China had added 60 tonnes in 2026 through July, behind Poland’s 90 tonnes, and had posted double-digit monthly additions since May.1 The subsequent August disclosure places holdings at roughly 2,386.57 tonnes and describes gold as less than 10% of official reserves.2 Those descriptions are compatible, but they support an approximate reserve-allocation range rather than an exact August percentage.

The central implication is therefore narrower than a wholesale reallocation of China’s reserves. The evidence supports persistent, increasingly large reported gold additions, yet gold still represented a minority share of official reserves under both descriptions. It also does not prove the motive for each purchase or establish whether reserve management policy will sustain the August rate. An analyst quoted in the August report linked the trend to reserve-structure optimisation and the role of gold in confidence and international use of the yuan, but that remains an interpretation rather than a disclosed PBoC policy commitment.2

For the gold market, the measurable signal is the continuation of disclosed official-sector demand rather than a conclusion about China’s full reserve strategy. The next monthly PBoC reserve report is the key catalyst: it will show whether the 20.22-tonne August purchase was the start of a higher buying cadence or a single peak within the 22-month accumulation run.2