〔中央社〕上海黃金交易所理事長沈祥榮今天在上海舉行的「第五屆中國黃金與貴金屬峰會」表示，目前中國大陸黃金、白銀交易大幅成長，個人投資成為金銀市場的主力軍，民間出現藏金熱潮。
上海最近舉行「2010中國鑽石論壇」，會上發表的統計數據顯示，金銀珠寶和汽車是中國銷售最「火」(火爆、熱門)的商品。
新華社引述沈祥榮表示，今年前10個月，上海黃金交易所累計成交黃金5014.5噸，比去年同期成長43.03%，成交金額突破人民幣1.3兆元，黃金日成交量超過25噸。
白銀也是新的投資焦點，今年前10個月，上海黃金交易所共成交白銀3萬9777噸，成長289.75%，成交金額達1762.85億元。僅10月份，白銀成交就超過1萬8900噸，超過去年全年成交量。
與此同時，金價持續走高，促進了黃金需求。今年前10個月，中國進口黃金209.72噸，比去年同期成長高達480%。
沈祥榮指出，今年中國民眾黃金投資熱情高漲，目前上海黃金交易所個人客戶已突破167萬戶，共成交黃金973.84噸，猛增247.33%，佔交易總量的近20%。
而個人白銀交易也快速發展，今年前10個月，累計個人白銀業務成交2萬4425.69噸，是去年同期34倍多。
此外，中國商務部原部長助理黃海表示，今年1至10月，商務部重點監測的4000家大型零售企業，零售總額比去年同期成長19.1%，其中金銀珠寶的增幅最高，達到35.6%，連續6個月超過30%。
中國國家統計局的數據也顯示金銀珠寶銷售的火爆。今年1至9月，全大陸限額以上批發零售企業商品零售總額比去年同期成長29.3%，其中金銀珠寶的零售成長43.4%，高居第1。
報導指出，今年國際金融市場動盪加劇，黃金、白銀等貴金屬的保值避險作用日益突出，中國金銀市場出現爆發性成長。
China’s gold imports jumped almost fivefold in the first 10 months from the entire amount shipped in last year as concern about rising inflation increased its appeal as a store of value, said the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
Imports gained to 209 metric tons compared with 45 tons for all of 2009,
Shen Xiangrong, chairman of the bourse, told a conference in Shanghai today. China, the world’s largest producer and second-biggest user, doesn’t regularly publish gold-trade figures and rarely comments on its reserves.
Bullion soared 27 percent this year as the dollar dropped on concern that the trillions of dollars governments are pumping into the global economy may debase the value of currencies. China has pledged to use price controls and may raise interest rates a second time this year to slow inflation that has gained to the
highest level since 2008.
“The central bank may now be approving all gold import” applications,
Albert Cheng, managing director of the World Gold Council’s Far East department, said in an interview. “The government hasn’t officially said that China is encouraging private gold investments, but we in the industry suspect it. And you can see the big jump in the delivered gold imports through the exchange has to be approved by them.”
Gold demand in China gained in the first half as government measures to cool the property
market and falling equities spurred investment, the gold exchange said July 7. About 70 percent to 80 percent of the imports in the first 10 months were made into mini-gold bars, which Chinese investors like to hold, the exchange’s Shen said.
Inflation Expectations
“Given China is the world’s biggest gold producer, the sharp increase in its imports is a big surprise,” said
Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at IDO Securities Co. in Tokyo. “People there need to buy gold to hedge against inflation as the country’s tightening monetary policy drives investors from stocks and properties to gold.”
China’s consumer prices jumped 4.4 percent in October, the
fastest pace in two years, and above the government’s full-year target of 3 percent. China’s central bank raised interest rates in October for the first time since 2007 and ordered banks on Nov. 10 and Nov. 19 to hold more money in reserve.
“The expectation for higher inflation has fueled great interest among investors to hold physical gold, which led to higher imports,” the gold exchange’s Shen said. The exchange traded 5,014.5 tons of gold in the first 10 months, up 43 percent from a year ago, Shen said.
Investment Demand
Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,392.07 an ounce at 5:36 p.m. in Shanghai after yesterday touching $1,397.50, the highest price since Nov. 12. The metal reached a record $1,424.60 an ounce on Nov. 9 and is set for a 10th annual gain.
China’s investment gold demand may reach 150 tons this year, up from 105 tons last year, the World Gold Council’s Cheng said. That compares with 3 to 4 tons 10 years ago, Cheng said.
“The investment demand we estimate already reached 120 tons in the first three quarters, and it usually spikes in the fourth,” Cheng said. Global investment demand for gold of 1,901 tons last year exceeded jewelry consumption of 1,759 tons for the first time in three decades, according to London-based researcher GFMS Ltd.
China’s gold market may double in the next decade as retail investment and jewelry demand gain, the World Gold Council said Nov. 3. Consumption may climb to 800 tons to 900 tons in the next ten years, said Wang Lixin, the council’s Greater China general manager. China’s jewelry and investment gold demand was 428 tons in 2009, according to the council.
Relaxed Rules
Sales of gold products such as bars by China National Gold Group Corp., owner of the country’s largest deposit of the metal, jumped as much as 40 percent in the first half,
Song Quanli, deputy party secretary at the company, said July 7.
China’s central bank in August said that it would let more banks import and export gold and allow overseas companies more access to trading. Gold demand growth in China will likely be supported by rising disposable income levels and the country could surpass India as the world’s biggest bullion consumer, Deutsche Bank AG said Aug. 6.
China’s plans to relax gold-trading rules may boost demand and increase trading volumes on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the bank said. Demand will continue to grow, making China one of the top importers together with India, IDO’s Kikukawa said.
Gold imports this year by India have already exceeded 2009 levels as consumers boost jewelry purchases, the World Gold Council said Nov. 17. Imports totaled 624 tons by the end of the third quarter, compared with 559 tons in all of 2009, according to the council.
Output Grows
China’s gold output may rise to 340 tons this year, from 314 tons last year, solidifying the nation’s position as the world’s largest producer, Zhang Fengkui, section chief of the raw materials department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on Oct. 16.
The country should raise its gold holdings and its 1,054 tons of reserves are inadequate compared with the 8,133 tons held by the U.S. and 3,408 tons by Germany, Meng Qingfa, a researcher at the China Chamber of International Commerce, said on Oct. 27.
Gold accounts for 1.6 percent of the reserves held by the People’s Bank of China, according to the World Gold Council. The country increased reserves by 454 tons to 1,054 tons since 2003, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said last April.
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Feiwen Rong. With assistance from
Jae Hur in Tokyo. Editors:
Richard Dobson, Jake Lloyd-Smith.
