The People’s Bank of China announced the country’s gold reserves totaled 1,658 tons at the end of June, the first such announcement since 2009 which revealed a nearly 60% increase during the interim, The Financial Times reported, citing a statement from the central bank. The purchases appear to reflect an attempt to diversify away from the US dollar, a task complicated by the rapid growth of China’s foreign exchange reserves–the world’s largest at more than US$3 trillion. At a value of about US$60.9 billion, the country’s gold reserves equal only 1.6% of its total foreign exchange holdings, while the global average was just under 10% at the end of 2014.
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