China’s gold imports from Hong Kong, a proxy for overseas buying, set a record in November for the fifth consecutive month as demand from the world’s largest gold consumer continued to defy expectations.
China’s gold imports have soared in recent months, as Chinese investors pour their savings into popular gold bars and consumers start to buy gold gifts for Chinese New Year.
China’s gold imports via Hong Kong in November leapt 20 per cent from the previous month to 103 tonnes. Today’s data, released by Hong Kong, brought China’s total gold imports from the territory to 389 tonnes during the first 11 months of 2011. The Hong Kong data are considered a proxy for China’s overall gold imports, which Beijing does not disclose.