Sources reveal that Cambodia will be among the first countries to store gold reserves in China, marking initial progress for Beijing in its push to develop itself as a global gold center.
Bloomberg, citing informed sources, reports that the Cambodian government plans to store part of its gold reserves in a bonded area located in Shenzhen, as well as in vaults registered with the Shanghai Gold Exchange. The sources added that other countries have also expressed interest in this move and are evaluating the benefits of diversifying their gold reserves away from traditional gold centers such as London.
Beijing hopes to become a custodian of other countries' gold as it seeks to establish a global financial system that is less reliant on the US dollar and Western financial centers. According to the sources, Beijing’s agreement with Cambodia involves storing newly purchased gold bars rather than transferring metal from existing reserves.
National central banks manage reserve assets. Last month, the governor of the National Bank of Cambodia said the country was considering "several locations" for storing its gold, but did not disclose whether China was among them.
According to the latest assessment from the World Gold Council, Cambodia’s central bank holds about 54 tons of gold, accounting for 25% of Cambodia's US$26 billion (RM109 billion) in foreign exchange reserves.