Hong Kong street Photo: Unsplash

 
The Chinese mainland’s net gold imports via Hong Kong in May continued to fall short of its exports for a second consecutive month, official data showed on Monday. 

The net gold imports via Hong Kong registered minus 1.5 tons in May, following minus 10.3 tons in April, Reuters reported, citing statistics from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. It was the first time the Chinese mainland has become a net exporter of gold via Hong Kong in April since 2011, the report said. 

The total gold imports via Hong Kong in May decreased to about 2.33 tons from 4.21 tons in April.

It is obvious that consumers’ demand for gold has declined due to the coronavirus, and the current pace of consumption recovery is pretty slow, Liu Xuezhi, a macroeconomics expert from Bank of Communications, told the Global Times on Monday. 

As a key safe haven asset, trading of gold has been greatly impacted by financial market fluctuations, Liu noted, adding that amid a sluggish global economy, the fluctuation risks of US dollars may increase.

“The major part of China’s foreign exchange reserves is US dollars. In order to diversify the domestic foreign exchange reserves, China may in future buy more gold due to the metal’s high value,” he added. 

China also imports gold via Shanghai and Beijing. According to China’s central bank, the value of the country’s gold reserves reached $108.29 billion by the end of May. 

Global Times