Asia Sentinel, 28 Apr 2009, Philip Bowring
China's announcement that it has more than doubled its official gold holdings to over 1,000 tonnes is significant as much for the politics of its timing as for the news itself. Indeed it is only one of several recent announcements made to position China for greater influence as the world financial system faces the prospect of its biggest changes since the 1971 Smithsonian Agreement.
The more than doubling from 454 to 1054 tonnes in 2002 when it last gave figures is not exactly surprising. Even allowing for a more than doubling in the gold price over that time, gold's percentage in China's reserves has not changed significantly. Currently valued at some $30 billion, gold is still only a fraction of reserves of US$1.9 trillion.
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