China adds gold for a seventh straight month as reserves near 3.42 trillion
China’s official foreign exchange reserves stood at 3,418.8 billion dollars at the end of July 2026, up 2.5 billion dollars or 0.07 percent on the month, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange reported on 7 August. The end-June figure was 3,416.3 billion dollars.
The administration attributed the move to technical factors rather than flows, stating that the increase “was mainly attributed to the combined effects of exchange rate conversion and changes in asset prices”, and noting that the dollar index fell while global financial asset prices were mixed during the month.
The more interesting line sits in the same table and was not mentioned in the administration’s accompanying commentary at all.
| Official reserve assets, end-July 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Foreign exchange reserves | 3,418.8 billion dollars |
| Change on June | plus 2.5 billion dollars, plus 0.07 percent |
| Gold holdings | 76.08 million fine troy ounces |
| Gold holdings, end-June | 75.44 million fine troy ounces |
| Monthly addition, our calculation | 640,000 fine troy ounces |
| Value of gold holdings | 306.35 billion dollars, from 303.72 billion |
The gold holding has risen in every month the administration has published for 2026, from 74.19 million fine troy ounces at the end of January to 76.08 million at the end of July. On our calculation that is an addition of 1.89 million ounces across seven months. We do not extend the run backwards beyond the 2026 table, which is as far as the administration’s published series could be verified.
The scale of the gold purchases should be kept in proportion. At 306.35 billion dollars, gold is equivalent to about 9.0 percent of the 3,418.8 billion dollar foreign exchange reserve figure on our calculation, or about 8.2 percent if gold and foreign exchange reserves are taken together as a single pool. Either way the metal remains a small share of a very large position, and monthly additions of the size recorded do not materially change that.
A note on the trade figures that sit alongside these reserves. The customs administration published July trade through the state news agency in renminbi only: total trade of 4.66 trillion yuan, up 19.2 percent, with exports up 17.8 percent and imports up 21.2 percent. Those are renminbi growth rates and cannot be restated in dollars. The administration’s English monthly tables had not carried the July dollar series at the time of checking, so the dollar-basis surplus and the seven-month crude oil and natural gas import volumes are not quoted here. Where a dollar figure is needed it should be taken from the customs release itself rather than converted from the renminbi totals.
Why it matters: a reserve position of 3.42 trillion dollars that moves 0.07 percent in a month is, on the face of it, a non-event. What is worth watching is the composition rather than the total. Our reading is that seven consecutive monthly additions to gold, in a quarter when the World Gold Council recorded central banks buying 288.9 tonnes globally and up 62 percent year on year, describes a deliberate and unhurried diversification rather than a reaction to any single month. The administration publishes no currency composition, so nothing here should be read as a statement about the dollar share of the reserves. What the table does show is a reserve manager adding a little gold every month while leaving the overall stock broadly flat – accumulation at the margin rather than reallocation.
Looking ahead: the end-August reserves are due in early September. The more consequential release is the customs data in dollars, which will settle whether July’s yuan-basis strength survives translation, and which will carry the crude and gas import volumes that matter most to Gulf exporters.
Sources: State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China, official reserve assets, 7 August 2026; Xinhua, 7 August 2026; General Administration of Customs of China, monthly statistics pages.
