China's May Gold Imports Climb to 163 Tons
Gold shipments into China reached 163 tons last month (May), as steady demand for physical metal combined with an overhauled import-licensing system to draw bullion into the world's biggest consumer, even with gold price sitting around $4,000 at the time of this article's publication.
The number, taken from Chinese customs figures reported by Bloomberg, has shown the total imports for 2026 (until May) to about 692 tons, roughly 76% higher than the first five months a year ago. May's tally not only topped every month going back to March 2024, but it also came with a report regarding a new licensing framework on June 1, easing gold import limits for some of the Chinese banks.
Much of the buying has flowed toward physical bars and this happened despite spot prices slipping from over $5,400 earlier this year.
According to Song Jiangzhen, a researcher with the Guangzhou Southern Gold Market Academy, the gold buying phenomenon has been propelled largely by domestic appetite for physical bars.
The latest figures extend a trend that began earlier in the year, when a surge of consumer purchases drove bullion to one record after another before household demand eventually cooled. The fact that imports have stayed elevated while prices retreated suggests Asian buyers kept stockpiling straight through the pullback.
The readings are consistent with the central-bank reserve build-up that have supported Chinese gold consumption across 2026. The demand in China is different from the demand in the west, where a lot of western investors seemed to exit their gold-related ETFs recently, that may have contributed to the falling of the gold spot price.
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