China's investment-driven consumption of gold will nearly double this year to 45 billion yuan ($6.7 billion U.S. dollars), due to rising concerns over inflation and restrictions on property investment, the World Gold Council announced on Thursday.
The China Daily quotes Albert Cheng, managing director of WGC (Far East), as saying that, "we expect investment-oriented consumption of gold could reach 150 tons in China this year, up from 80.5 tons during the same period last year."
Cheng added, "Double-digit growth could still be achieved next year, due to people's expectations of rising inflation and a weakening dollar. Meanwhile, the central bank is also expected to increase its holdings of gold to diversify its asset portfolio."
China's consumer price index, the major gauge of inflation, surged to a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in November, prompting the nation's leaders to announce that fighting inflation is presently the top priority for the government.
"Meanwhile," according to the China Daily, "due to the government's rigorous real estate policies and the flat performance of China's capital market, a growing number of people see gold as a hedge against inflation."
Recently, the World Gold Council along with China's largest lender, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, launched a gold accumulation product that targets the nation's mass consumer market.
