Russia has increased gold shipments to China by 800%

Russia has increased its physical gold shipments to China ninefold in 2025, to 25.3 tonnes – up 800%.

Source: Russia's state propaganda news agency RIA Novosti, citing data from China's customs service.

Details: In value terms, the increase has risen 14.6-fold, to US$3.29 billion.

Both the value and tonnage figures have been record highs for the entire period of trade between Russia and China. In December 2025, Russian exports to China amounted to US$1.35 billion, or 10 tonnes, which is also a record high.

At the same time, Russia ranked seventh among exporters of gold to China by volume last year.

Switzerland ranked first, selling China gold worth US$25.73 billion, followed by Canada (US$11.06 billion), South Africa (US$9.42 billion), Australia (US$8.77 billion), and Kyrgyzstan (US$4.95 billion). In 2024, Russia ranked 11th among suppliers.

Background:

• Russia's central bank has for the first time switched to direct sales of gold from its reserves on the domestic market, opening access to the metal for banks, state-owned companies and certain investment entities.
• China may in fact have bought 10 times more gold this year than was officially reported.

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