By Amine Bouchentouf
Hard Assets Investor
Now the top gold-producing nation, China, is also quickly gaining on India as the top-consuming country.
Ever since China entered into its series of five-year economic plans in the late 20th Century, it’s not a stretch to argue that its economic rise has been one of the most impressive in human history. Growing at close to double digits per year, China is lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and has embarked on one of the greatest industrialization phases the world has ever known.
As I’ve been writing for more than a decade, China may be the most important factor influencing key industrial commodities such as iron ore, copper and coal. China is already the biggest consumer and/or producer of the above-mentioned commodities, and its influence on other natural resources is expanding on a daily basis. In this installment, The Commodity Investor examines the quiet but steady role that China has had in the gold markets in recent years. Many market participants don’t realize it, but China is arguably the most important factor in the gold market today.