China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported on September 7, 2026 that the People's Bank of China bought 650,000 troy ounces of gold last month. Total holdings now stand at 76.73 million ounces, roughly 2,387 tonnes, a record for the institution.
The Kobeissi Letter noted the purchase on X:
"China's central bank officially bought +20 tonnes of gold in August, matching its largest monthly purchase since October 2023. This follows +20 tonnes and +15 tonnes acquired in July and June, respectively, and marks its 22nd consecutive monthly gold purchase. So far in 2026, China has officially added +80 tonnes to its gold reserves, lifting total holdings to a record 2,387 tonnes."
The acceleration from 2025 to 2026 puts the streak in sharper context. China added a total of 29 tonnes across all of 2025. Through the first eight months of 2026, that figure already stands at 80 tonnes.
The reported value of China's gold reserves rose to $350.08 billion from $306.35 billion in July. That $43.7 billion jump reflects mostly the price of gold during August rather than new volume. Twenty tonnes of physical metal is twenty tonnes at any price.
Gold traded near $4,395 an ounce on the day of the announcement, down about 0.8%, with U.S. markets closed for Labor Day. Silver sat near $65.63, off roughly 0.9%.
The streak matters more than the monthly tonnage
Global mine production reached a record 3,672 tonnes in 2025. August's 20-tonne purchase represents under 1% of that annual output. The data point that carries weight is not the size of any individual transaction. It is the 22-month unbroken run that has held regardless of price direction.
Gold hit a record above $5,500 in January 2026, fell nearly 30% to the low $4,000s by late June, and recovered into the $4,300s by September. Reserve managers do not operate on that price calendar.
Gu Fengda, chief analyst at Guoxin Futures, described China's approach as "a highly strategic and forward-looking deployment" of reserves, not a short-term trade.
The dollar's declining share of global reserves
According to the IMF's Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) data, the U.S. dollar's share of global central bank reserves dropped from roughly 72% in 2000 to about 57% today. Gold has absorbed a significant portion of that structural shift over two decades.
The World Gold Council's 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey found that 89% of central bank respondents expect global official-sector gold reserves to keep rising over the next 12 months, with a record 45% expecting their own institution's holdings to increase, the highest share since the survey began.
What Beijing's Hong Kong vault move signals
China has also relocated part of its holdings to a new vault in Hong Kong. The facility operates under London Bullion Market Association standards and gives the PBoC direct access to physical gold within the Asian time zone. A logistics commitment at that scale does not fit a short-term allocation.
The next SAFE release
The SAFE report covering September purchases is due in early October. It will confirm whether August's pace holds or moderates. Thursday's U.S. PPI data and Friday's CPI report will shape gold's near-term price action alongside the odds of a September Fed rate move.
Matvii Diadkov
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