Data Discrepancy Highlights Difficulty of Tracking Chinese Gold Reserves

According to Canadian customs data, coal, canola, and petroleum rank as the country’s top exports to China. But Chinese records tell a different story. Based on China’s data, gold is the top Canadian import.

This discrepancy underscores the difficulty in tracking Chinese gold reserves.

Based on Chinese data, the value of imported Canadian gold was 10 times higher than reported by Canadian export reports.

The difference is rooted in the way the two countries report imports and exports. According to a report by the Globe and Mail, Canada does not track exports once they leave the country’s shores and cannot account for a product changing hands along the way. On the other hand, Chinese customs require importers to report the origin of all products.

“This means that when Canada sells gold to bullion markets in London and New York, those exports are counted here as sales to Britain and the United States. But when China buys that same Canadian gold from those same markets, it considers the imports to be from Canada.”

Canadian statistics show $1.9 billion in direct gold exports to China. But based on Chinese customs reports, the country imported $25 billion in Canadian gold.

The Globe and Mail article notes, “Gold investors appear to be unloading their supplies of Canadian bullion in response to China’s continuing buying spree.”

Philippe Rheault spent two decades in China with the Canadian foreign service. He said it appears most Canadian gold is entering China from Hong Kong, Switzerland, and England. And Rheault said he wouldn’t be surprised if China is understating the amount of gold imported from Canada.

How Much Gold Does China Have?

That leads to an important question. Exactly how much gold does China have?

The answer is we don’t know.

As the discrepancy between Canadian and Chinese data reveals, it’s hard to get a handle on it. But it’s almost certainly more than the Chinese reveal.

The People’s Bank of China reported a 6-tonne increase in its official gold reserves in the second quarter of 2025, bringing its official holdings to 2,296 tonnes. That makes up about 6.5 percent of its total reserves.

But as analyst Jan Nieuwenhuijs has reported, the People's Bank of China is secretly buying large amounts of gold off the books. According to data parsed by the renowned Money Metals researcher, the Chinese central bank is currently sitting on more than 5,000 tonnes of monetary gold located in Beijing – more than TWICE what has been publicly admitted.

Nieuwenhuijs estimates that the Chinese central bank covertly bought 570 tonnes of gold last year, encouraging gold’s ascent in global international reserves by 4 percent, the largest gain in four decades.

Mining Association of Canada president and CEO Pierre Gratton said his country should follow China’s example.

“Given the incredible rise in gold’s value, China once again appears to be out-maneuvering the West, much as it has with other mineral commodities. It’s ironic and unfortunate that Canada, as a major gold producer, isn’t itself increasing its gold holdings in these turbulent times.” 

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