Global central banks slowed their gold purchases in the second quarter, with central banks slightly moderating their gold buying pace.

Recently, the price of gold has been fluctuating around $3300 per ounce, showing signs of weakness after breaking through $3500 in May. The benchmark for gold stocks, Lao Pu Gold, has also fallen nearly 30% from its previous high. On July 31, the World Gold Council released a report on global gold demand for the second quarter, showing that the purchasing activity of "gold-buying main force" global central banks has slowed down. Global central banks purchased a net of 166 tons of gold in the second quarter, a 21% decrease compared to the previous year. However, the People's Bank of China purchased a net of 6 tons of gold in the second quarter, accumulating a total of 19 tons in the first half of the year, increasing its gold reserves for 8 consecutive months until June. After a significant increase of 28% in 2024, gold priced in Chinese yuan continued to soar in 2025, with a growth of over 24% in the first 6 months. Short-term pullbacks are inevitable as tariffs and geopolitical risks decrease. Wang Lixin, CEO of the World Gold Council China, stated that central bank gold purchases in the second quarter slightly slowed down compared to the first quarter, but overall remained above the five-year average level in the first half of the year, surpassing the ten-year average by over 40%. It is expected that central banks will continue to be a major force in gold purchases in the future. He also mentioned that the "gold+" strategy, which involves allocating more than 5% of gold in a multi-asset portfolio as a performance benchmark or asset allocation strategy, has begun to attract more attention from Chinese insurance, private equity, and other institutions.