Not exactly:
China has recently considerably ramped up its gold imports, in an effort to diversify the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) holdings, as well as reduce their reliance on the US dollar (DXY). This has also been seen as a move to prepare for the country's resurging industrial and manufacturing activity, especially when it comes to jewellery manufacturing.
This sudden rise in gold purchases happened in November 2022, following a three-year break by the PBOC. In November an extra 32 tonnes of gold was bought, on top of the usual monthly purchases, which was then followed by a further 30 tonnes in December, according to the World Gold Council.
At the end of 2022, China's official gold reserves totaled approximately 2,010 tonnes, which was an increase of about 3.2% from the end of October 2022, when reserves were about 1,948 tonnes. This boost in the last quarter of the year has taken China's gold imports for the whole of 2022 to record levels.
Since the third quarter of 2022, about 400 tonnes of gold have been bought by mostly unnamed buyers, with only about a quarter of the transactions publicly and transparently being reported. This has gone a long way in helping boost gold prices in the last few months.
This had led to several speculations of a number of central banks being behind these purchases, with China and Russia being the potential forerunners. China's role is now being confirmed following the release of specific amounts of gold it has purchased.
This may largely be due to China preparing itself to reduce its dependence on the US dollar, as its relations with the US deteriorate further, following a number of restrictions on Chinese semiconductor companies.