BEIJING - China's gold consumption amounted to 832.18 tonnes in 2012, an increase of 9.35 percent from a year earlier, data from China Gold Association showed Saturday.
Consumption of gold jewelry rose 10.09 percent year on year to 502.75 tonnes, while those of gold bars and gold coins gained 12.22 percent and 21.63 percent, respectively, to 239.98 tonnes and 25.3 tonnes.
But consumption for industrial and other uses saw a drop last year, the association said.
Demand for gold has grown steadily over the years as more Chinese see it as a hedge to diversify investment risks and battle against inflation. China is currently the world's second-largest gold consumer after India.
China produced 403.05 tonnes of gold in 2012, making it the world's largest producer for the sixth straight year, according to previous data from the association. .....................................................
Gold demand set to outstrip supply by 2015 Updated: 2013-02-16 09:06By Wu Yiyao in Shanghai (China Daily)
Chinese consumers' seemingly insatiable thirst for gold is set to provide a strong impetus for local mines.
The country's demand for the precious metal is expected to outstrip supply by at least 550 metric tons by 2015, statistics released by several gold councils showed.
The nation's gold producers will accelerate exploration and industry integration to create some major players in the market in the next few years, according to a circular from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
China has been the world's biggest producer of gold for six years since 2007, with an annul output of 403 tons in 2012, a year-on-year growth of 11.7 percent.
But a projected increase in output is unlikely to meet rising demand, industry analysts said.
"Imports of gold from other countries and regions will help fill the gap between gold demand and supply," said Li Yang, a Shanghai-based gold investment analyst.
Yang Yijun, chief analyst with Wellxin.com, a precious metals consultancy, said gold exchange traded funds, likely to be introduced in 2013, could further push up demand for gold reserves in China.
Despite slower economic growth in 2012, China saw year-on-year growth of 1 percent in gold jewelry demand in the fourth quarter, which stood at 137 tons. Demand for gold as an investment increased 2 percent in the fourth quarter, reaching 65.5 tons, according to the World Gold Council.
A quarter-to-quarter comparison shows China's demand for gold investment saw a 24 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2012, said Marcus Grubb, the council's managing director for investment.
Investment was little changed in China from 2011, although 265.5 tons represented a very healthy level of demand. Purchases related to Spring Festival helped increase demand but investors were somewhat inhibited by the lack of a clear pricing signal during much of the year, given their preference to buy into a rising trend, according to the council's report.
Grubb said China is still among the countries with the highest demand for gold in the world despite its slower economic growth. A recovering economy may see more demand for gold in 2013.
"Looking forward, the signs of economic improvement bode well for gold demand in China, although the indications are for a steady firming of demand rather than for strong growth; this will remain the case while the gold price continues to hold within the broad sideways range of the last five to six months," the council report said.
To meet demands for physical gold, Hong Kong shipped 114 tons of gold to the mainland in December, a record high for monthly exports. Hong Kong's net gold flow to the mainland jumped 47 percent in 2012, totaling of 557 tons.
Data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department show Hong Kong's total gold shipments to the mainland in 2012 jumped 94 percent from 2011 to more than 832 tons, while imports were six times higher at 275 tons.
Gold imports from HK last year climb to record Updated: 2013-02-07 16:17(China Daily)
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Gold imports into the mainland from Hong Kong surged 94 percent to an all-time high last year as rising incomes in the world's second-largest economy underpinned increased demand and helped the metal to post a 12th annual gain.
The mainland imported 834,502 kilograms, including scrap and coins, compared with around 431,215 kg in 2011, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department.
Imports in December rose to a monthly record of 114,405 kg, according to data from the department on Tuesday. .......................................................
China world's top gold producer for 6th year Updated: 2013-02-07 11:18(Xinhua)
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BEIJING - China produced the most gold in the world in 2012, making it the largest producer for the sixth straight year, latest industry association data showed.
China's gold output increased 11.66 percent from a year earlier to hit a record high of 403.05 tons in 2012, the China Gold Association said Wednesday.
The output was almost 100 times that of 1949, when the country produced just 4.07 tons, the association said.
It attributed the increase to favorable government polices, which have put the industry on a fast track and made it a pillar industry in many of the country's gold producing areas.
The country's top 10 gold producers, including provinces of Shandong, Henan, Jiangxi, accounted for 82.71 percent of the total national output last year.
China surpassed South Africa to become the largest gold producer in 2007.
The country is currently the world's second-largest gold consumer after India, with total gold consumption at 761.05 tons in 2011, the association said in a report released in December. .......................................................
China to introduce gold ETFs Updated: 2013-01-26 10:53(Xinhua)
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BEIJING -- China's securities regulator published provisional rules for the operation of gold exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, on Friday, paving the way for introducing such business into the country's financial market.
There is no specific timetable yet for the listing of gold ETFs, or mutual funds traded on stock exchanges that track the price of gold and have most of their assets invested in gold, according to an official from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC.
Authorities need to thoroughly study how to regulate gold ETFs in order to protect investors' interests in such new products, said the CSRC official, who declined to be identified.
The move will be part of government efforts to boost the development of both the gold market and the capital market.
Gold ETFs are operated in most of the world's major financial markets, with a combined asset scale of more than $140 billion as of the end of July 2012, according to a CSRC statement.
China's rapidly growing gold market has created conditions for the development of gold ETFs, said the statement.
China is the world's biggest gold producer and consumer, with its gold output reaching 360.96 metric tons in 2011, according to the China Gold Association.
The value of gold product transactions surged 53.45 percent year-on-year to 2.48 trillion yuan ($395 billion) at the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the country's major gold bourse, in 2011, the association said. .........................................................
Chinese imports support gold price Updated: 2013-01-14 10:13(Xinhua)
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DUBAI - Gold prices gained $6.70 or 0.4 percent during the last week as the yellow metal's value was supported by Chinese gold imports which rose to a seven-month high in November 2012, said Gerhard Schubert, head of precious metals at bank Emirates NBD on Saturday.
In his weekly published commentary, Schubert said there was general expectation in the market that in China the demand for gold generally picks up before Christmas and will last till the Lunar New Year (February 2013). In addition, China reported a 14.1 percent year-on-year growth in exports for the month of December 2012. Rising trade figures usually trigger worries over an inflation surge which translates into higher gold prices.
On Saturday, Gold was trading at around $1,662 per ounce. That was 1.8 percent higher than on Jan 6 but slightly lower than $1, 680 the yellow metal briefly touched on Jan 9.
Schubert said that yellow metal, albeit on a rebound, could not sustain early 2013 momentum because of inflation data from China, which was highest in the last seven months. "This led investors to book gains on gold," said Schubert.
Other factors that supported gold, which is regarded as an investment for protection against inflation, were the European Central bank's decision to keep interest rates steady. ......................................................
China's top gold producer's sales up 27% in 2012 Updated: 2013-01-07 17:05(Xinhua)
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BEIJING - China National Gold Group Corp, the country's largest gold producer, said Monday that its sales reached 100.6 billion yuan ($16 billion) in 2012, up 27.1 percent from 2011.
Profits stood at 4.45 billion yuan, down 55 million yuan year-on-year, the company said in an annual report.
The company's total assets hit a record-high 65 billion yuan by the end of 2012, up 11.5 billion yuan from a year earlier, the report said.
By the end of 2012, the company's gold reserves reached 1,758 tons, up 374 tons from the previous year, while its copper, molybdenum and silver reserves hit 10.97 million, 2.07 million and 10,000 tons, respectively, according to the report.
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