China Is Buying A LOT of Gold

Name: China Is Buying A LOT of Gold
Uploaded: 2026-07-15T20:00:19.000Z
Duration: 30 min 23 s
Channel: Andrei Jikh

Andrei JikhJuly 15, 202630m

Topics29

China's Largest Retail ETF Shifts to Gold0:00 Gold Price Decline Amidst Increased Buying0:33 Global Central Bank Gold Purchases1:33 US Treasury Secretary's Hamiltonian Economics Plan2:01 Credit to Luke Groman and FFTT Analysis3:30 Alexander Hamilton's December 5, 1791 Plan4:00 Two-Part Hamiltonian Economic Plan5:30 Trump References Hamiltonian System6:30 Historical Pattern of Empire Decline7:00 US De-Industrialization Beginning in 19719:30 Consequences of Financialization10:32 Trade-offs of Financialization12:01 Current US Attempt to Reverse De-Industrialization13:30 Five Core Principles from Bessent's Op-Ed14:31 The Impossible Triangle15:02 Scott Bessent's Likely Choice16:32 China's 2009 Response to Financial Crisis17:01 Keynes' Bancor Proposal18:32 Historical Irony20:03 Support for Gold as Neutral Asset21:00 Gold Price Requirement for Trade Settlement22:00 Evidence of Gold Accumulation23:00 Luke Groman's Prediction25:02 Two Possible Endings26:00 Reserve Assets and Trade Settlement27:08 Portfolio Implications27:31 Performance Since 2018 China Trade War28:01 Gold Price Outlook28:31 Timeline and Investment Considerations29:01

In a Nutshell

China is accumulating physical gold at record pace as central banks and retail investors rotate out of a financialized dollar system. The US is attempting a Hamiltonian reversal—using tariffs and industrial policy to rebuild factories—but this creates an impossible triangle that requires weakening the dollar and settling trade imbalances in gold. Gold must reach roughly $38,000 per ounce to balance China's trade surplus, and both the US and China are positioning gold as the neutral reserve asset that absorbs this transition.

AI-Generated Notes

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Last week, the biggest exchange traded fund in China that ordinary Chinese people put their money into became a gold ETF. In the US, most people invest in the S&P 500 through ETFs like VO. China has an equivalent fund that was recently surpassed by the Guan Yu Gold ETF, which now holds $13 billion compared to $12 billion in stocks. In the second biggest economy in the world, the biggest chunk of retail investor money is now sitting in gold.

This shift is happening while gold prices are crashing. Gold peaked at around $5,600 an ounce earlier this year and then went down almost 30% below $4,000. During this decline, China was buying significantly more gold. The People's Bank of China bought gold for the 20th month in a row, the longest streak going back to at least 2015. In June, they bought almost 15 tons of gold, the biggest monthly buy since October 2023. China also imported roughly 700 tons of gold in the first 5 months of this year and over 14,000 tons combined since 2015.

The People's Bank of China is not alone. The world's central banks bought 41 tons net in May alone. Countries including Poland, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan are also buying gold. On July 24th, four of China's biggest banks are shutting down retail gold trading to ensure ordinary Chinese citizens buy real gold rather than paper representations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Fort Knox and confirmed all gold is present and accounted for. The US has the largest gold reserves in the world, over a trillion dollars at current market value. Bessent's plan for the US economy is referred to as Hamiltonian economics. A Wall Street Journal op-ed outlined this approach and explained why central banks are buying gold and why some analysts calculate gold must reach $38,000 per ounce for the global economy to balance.

Luke Groman from FFTT connected the dots including Scott Bessent's op-ed on Hamiltonian economics, which outlines how countries become superpowers. Every country that became rich used protective policies and taxes, then preached free trade to others after winning.

On December 5, 1791, Alexander Hamilton, America's first Treasury Secretary, presented his report on manufacturers to Congress. At the time, the US had about 4 million people, mostly farmers, with virtually no factories. Almost everything manufactured was imported from the British Empire. Hamilton stated that a nation that cannot make the things it needs is not actually an independent nation. If an economy depends on an adversary, it remains a colony.

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China Is Buying A LOT of Gold

China's Largest Retail ETF Shifts to Gold00:00

Gold Price Decline Amidst Increased Buying00:33

Global Central Bank Gold Purchases01:33

US Treasury Secretary's Hamiltonian Economics Plan02:01

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