Imports of the precious metal surged in late 2025 amid Beijingâs de-dollarization efforts, customs data shows
China bought a record amount of gold from Russia in November, with shipments rising to almost $1 billion, RIA Novosti reports, citing Chinese customs data.
Russia’s gold sales to China were valued at $961 million in November, following October’s total of $930 million, the outlet said on Saturday, as Moscow steps up efforts to reroute precious-metal exports away from Western markets due to the sweeping sanctions against Russia, and as China emerges as a key destination.
In October and November last year, Russia did not ship any gold to China, and its previous peak annual tally was just $223 million. Over the first 11 months of 2025, Chinese imports of Russian gold reached $1.9 billion – almost nine times the value recorded in the same period last year, according to the customs data cited. Russia’s overall exports of precious metals to China doubled from a year earlier, data shows.
The true scale of China’s purchases could be far higher than official data indicates, analysts say. Bloomberg estimates Russia’s exports of precious metals to China at around $1 billion in the first half of 2025, without specifying how much of the total was gold.
The Financial Times reported in November that China’s unreported gold buying could be more than ten times its official figures, as the country quietly diversifies away from the US dollar. Data compiled by the World Gold Council shows China bought 23.95 tons of gold from January to September this year, but analysts argue that actual purchases are much larger as China reduces its reliance on dollar-denominated reserves.
Russia and China have intensified cooperation since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The two nations describe relations as a strategic partnership without limits, with trade turnover exceeding $200 billion for a third consecutive year. Moscow and Beijing have essentially eliminated the use of Western currencies in trade, with almost all payments now conducted in rubles and yuan.
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