China's Gold: World Changing or Unsurprising?

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 "For 5,000 YEARS gold was a monetary asset, a financial asset, and a commodity," noted Jeffrey Christian of the CPM metals consultancy (.pdf) in New York last month. "Since the 1960s gold has been removed as a basis of the international monetary system."

But reviewing last week's news that China's Gold Hoard Rose 75% in the five years to end-2008, CPM now thinks it important that the 454-tonne purchase were initially made by the non-central bank State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), and only recently transferred to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

China's Gold: World Changing or Unsurprising? -- Seeking Alpha

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