China is quietly buying huge amounts of gold and moving to kill the paper gold market, a bullish signal for gold and a warning sign about the current price being artificially low.

• China is cracking down on paper gold trading — the bets against gold — while still letting people own and trade physical gold.
• The idea is that gold's real price is far higher than today's, held down for decades by paper markets that let people gamble on the price.
• China bought 163 tons of gold in May, its most since early 2024, and central banks worldwide are buying far more than they admit.
• China is building its own gold clearing and settlement system to make itself, not London or New York, the place where the gold price gets set.

Outlook: Expect continued heavy central-bank gold buying and a push to shift pricing power toward China, which points to higher gold prices ahead.