China saw a surge in gold bar and coin consumption in the first three quarters of the year despite an overall decline in gold consumption, said the China Gold Association on Monday.
The association's data showed that while the country's gold consumption dropped by 11.18 percent year on year to 741.732 tons, the consumption of gold bars and coins rose significantly by 27.14 percent year on year to 282.721 tons during the same period.
"In the first three quarters of this year, with market expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut and underlying geopolitical factors, many investors were optimistic about future gold price trends, and would gradually purchased some gold bars for investment as a proportion of their overall family assets, leading to a substantial year-on-year increase in demand for gold bars and coins in the first three quarters," said Li Yang, a senior gold investment analyst.
The continuous uptrend in gold prices, constantly setting new historical record highs, has also further invigorated the gold futures market, with substantial growth in trading volume and turnover.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange recorded a total trading volume of 64,800 tons across all gold products, marking a 40.49 percent increase year on year, with a turnover of 28.73 trillion yuan (about 4 trillion U.S. dollars), representing a significant 62.89 percent year-on-year growth.
China's gold bar, coin consumption surges in Jan-Sept
The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.
On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.
Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.
"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.
Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.
"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.
US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar
