Guest Column

China's gold appetite

  • Published 23 Dec 2009

China will overtake India as the number one private gold buyer by a considerable margin for 2009, and robust demand will likely continue next year, says Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.com.

Full-year private demand in mainland China could outstrip India, the former number one buyer, by one-quarter if not one-third. Short of a (very unlikely) collapse in Q4 demand, full-year private gold buying – including jewellery and retail investment – is set to have grown 10% from 2008's record in volume terms, rising 26% by value to equal $13.5bn (Rmb 92.3bn, €9.4bn, £8.4bn) or more.