CRISISBOOM

In this world of chaos and tumult, the Chinese people know what to do to preserve their wealth – they buy gold. When Americans finally wake up, if that ever happens, there is a good chance that there won’t be any gold to buy at any price.

By David Lew
BEIJING (Commodity Online):An unprecedented investor interest in gold is turning Chinese households as store houses of wealth these days as people are on a gold buying spree across the rural and urban areas of the dragon country.

Bundles of news stories are these days written on the gold buying spree by the Chinese households. If not an overstatement, it is now a fact that people’s houses in China have soared in value thanks to the rising prices of gold in the last two years.

“People in China are buying gold like never before. They believe that gold is the best form of investment. So they are buying gold coins, bars and jewelery items and stocking up safely in their homes,” says Beijing-based bullion dealer J Kim Lee.

Quoting the World Gold Council figures, Lee says that if the gold buying spree by Chinese households goes on at the current pace, private gold Chinese demand may overtake Indian gold demand by 2014, giving the world’s two most populous nations two ounces of gold in every five sold worldwide that year.

Indian households are estimated to be owning 15,000 tonnes of gold. India continues to the largest consumer and importer of gold worldwide.

According to precious metals analyst Steven Jon Kaplan, a significant percentage of gold’s price increase in 2009-2010 was caused by the incremental demand from Read more…