Already the No.1 gold mining nation, China is now the No.1 gold consumer too... 

 

CHINA is set to overtake India as the world's heaviest gold-consumer nation in 2013 thanks both to its own demand and also India's recent anti-gold import curbs, says China's state-approved gold industry body.

 

Citing the China Gold Association, "China is poised to pass India as the largest bullion consumer as early as this year," the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.

 

Approved by the State Economy and Trade Committee in 2001, the China Gold Association is a society of China's gold mining, refining, distribution and investment companies. Now with more than 400 members, the Association states its aim as upholding the Communist Party's economic and social plans.

 

The world's No.1 gold mining nation since 2007, China could see domestic gold output rise almost 10% to 440 tonnes this year, according to China Mining Association executive vie chairman Wang Jiahua.

 

Amongst consumers buying gold, "We saw some frenzied buying following gold's rout in April," the SCMP newspaper quotes Zhang Yongtao, vice-chairman of the China Gold Association. "Our preliminary estimate confirms that consumption reached about 137 tonnes, more than double a typical month."

 

Noting that China's gold demand lagged India by 776 tonnes to 864 in 2012, Zhang says China's gold-buying jumped above 456 tonnes in the first four months of this year alone.

 

Chinese households will continue buying gold, says Zhang, because "people are getting wealthier and investment choices are limited.

 

"There's huge potential as long as the economy is growing," he added. "Total demand this year is likely to be in the range of 900 to 1,000 tonnes."