MANILA: China's net gold imports from main conduit Hong Kong rebounded in July from a 10-month low in June, data showed on Tuesday, as purchases grew after global prices fell to the lowest levels since 2010.
Net gold imports from Hong Kong rose to 55.063 tonnes last month from 37.146 tonnes in June, according to data emailed to Reuters by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
Total gold imports rose by a third to 63.765 tonnes. China is the world's top gold consumer but it does not provide official trade data on gold, so the Hong Kong figures serve as a proxy for flows to the mainland.
The Hong Kong data, however, does not provide a full picture as Chinese imports also come through Shanghai and Beijing.
Spot gold fell to a 5-1/2-year low of $1,077 an ounce in a July rout as the US dollar strengthened on expectations of an impending increase in US interest rates. Bullion has since recovered nearly 7 percent to $1,150.
The World Gold Council has said China's gold demand this year is expected to at least hold steady with last year at just under 1,000 tonnes and will not likely be dented by a devaluation in the country's currency this month.
But a slowing Chinese economy risks reducing appetite among gold buyers. "I think if we do get GDP starting to print well below 7 percent for the next few quarters then (it will affect) retail spending and wages (which will) further erode purchasing power for precious metals," Victor Thianpiriya, commodity strategist at ANZ Bank in Singapore, said on China before the gold import data was released. Fears over the fate of the world's No. 2 economy fueled a global rout in risk assets this week, led by a collapse in Chinese stocks, which slumped further on Tuesday by more than 7 percent.
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