CHINA US Focus - Perspectives shaping the world's most important bilateral relationship

After years of scooping big overseas energy and industrial metal assets, China is gaining momentum in another commodity sector: gold.

 

China National Gold Group Corp.'s potential $3.9 billion bid to acquire African Barrick Gold PLC is the latest in a series of recent moves by Chinese gold producers to plug a domestic supply shortfall, efforts that amount to a bet on sustained strength in the gold market even though the economic slowdown is dragging down prices.

 

For the world's second-largest economy, fundamental factors starkly favor an overseas push. China produced around 360 metric tons of gold last year but consumed nearly 800 tons.