BEIJING — China’s central bank added about 25.8 tonnes of gold to its reserves in October, extending its monthly buying streak to a full two years even as gold prices recorded their worst October since the 2008 financial crisis, according to official reserve data released on Saturday, November 7.
Source: Reuters via TradingView (Nov 7)
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) held 78.30 million fine troy ounces of gold at the end of October, up 830,000 ounces from 77.47 million ounces at the end of September, the official data showed. That is the 24th consecutive monthly increase since the current run of buying began in November 2024, and it takes China’s reported gold stockpile to roughly 2,435 tonnes.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily (Nov 7)
The October addition was the largest monthly increase of the two-year run, after rises of 740,000 ounces in September and 650,000 ounces in August, according to calculations from the official monthly figures. Since the end of 2025, China has added about 4.15 million ounces — roughly 129 tonnes — to its gold reserves.
Buying through a falling market
The purchases continued through a sharp price slide. Gold fell almost 7% in October and ended the month below the $4,000-an-ounce level, touching a one-year low, in its biggest October decline since the global financial crisis of 2008. Because prices fell, the dollar value of China’s gold holdings actually dropped to about $306.4 billion in October from about $323.5 billion in September, even though the physical stockpile grew — a reminder that the monthly figures measure ounces held, not money spent.
China’s total foreign-exchange reserves — $3.405 trillion at the end of October, yaani about $3,405 billion — rose by $4.927 billion, or 0.14%, from September, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said, attributing the move to exchange-rate changes and shifts in asset prices.
The world’s biggest disclosed buyer
World Gold Council data showed the PBOC was the biggest disclosed buyer among central banks in the third quarter of 2026, purchasing about 63 tonnes. Central banks worldwide bought a net 321 tonnes in that quarter — the most since the final quarter of 2024 — and Bloomberg noted that continued official-sector buying has been a key factor supporting gold prices in an otherwise weak market, with Chinese retail investors also buying around the $4,000 level in October.
Analysts generally read Beijing’s steady accumulation as long-term reserve diversification rather than a short-term price bet: the monthly data do not disclose the dates or prices of individual purchases, and the PBOC has not announced any target level for its gold holdings. Gold has since rebounded from its October low after the US midterm elections, and what happens next for the metal depends heavily on oil prices, the US dollar and whether the US–Iran war moves toward a settlement — the same forces that drove the metal down in October.
Central-bank buying is one of the strongest long-term supports under the gold price. When the world’s most-watched central bank keeps buying for 24 straight months — and buys its largest amount in a falling month — it signals to markets, and to savers in India and the diaspora who hold gold, that official demand is unlikely to disappear even when prices swing.