China revealed today (April 24th) that it has gradually improved its gold reserves by 75 percent since 2003, Reuters reports.

The country is now holding a total of 1,054 tonnes of the yellow metal in comparison to a figure of 600 six years ago, although it only accounts for 1.6 percent of its total foreign exchange holdings.

Hou Huimin, vice-general secretary of the China Gold Association, explained that China should buy more and that the news will come as a boost to anyone with a Gold Investment.

He told the news provider: "It's not a matter of a few hundred, or 1,000 tonnes. China should hold more because of its new international status, and because of the financial crisis.

"The financial crisis means the US dollar value is changing fast, and it may retreat from being the international reserve currency. If that happens, whoever holds gold will be at an advantage."

Those views were echoed by Yao Haiqiao, president of Longgold Asset Management, who explained that most commentators are treating the announcement as a sign that China will be looking to engage in more Gold Buying.

"The comments indicate that China will buy more gold as reserve to improve its foreign reserve portfolio. This is a trend," he told Reuters.

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