Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

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The People’s Bank of China has continued to increase its gold reserves since November 2024, official data showed on Saturday, with the country’s holdings rising by 40,000 troy ounces in January, AzerNEWS reports.

The update comes amid heightened volatility in precious metals markets. In January, a surge in speculative interest pushed gold and silver prices to new all-time highs, before a sharp pullback later in the month sent prices to record lows. Although the market has since partially recovered, analysts say volatility remains elevated.

According to the World Gold Council (WGC), central banks worldwide, the largest institutional players in the gold market, boosted gold purchases in the final quarter of 2025, lifting annual net buying to more than 860 tonnes.

While this figure is below the roughly 1,000 tonnes per year accumulated by central banks over the previous three years, the WGC expects official sector demand to remain strong, reinforcing gold’s role as a key component of sovereign reserve portfolios amid geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.