HONG KONG(MarketWatch) -- China has added to its gold reserves and now holds1,054 metric tons of the yellow metal, according to a Friday report bythe Xinhua News Agency, which cited comment by Hu Xiaolian, head of theState Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Hu said that China's gold reserves had risen by 454 metric tons since2003 and that the total was being reported to the InternationalMonetary Fund as per the organization's rules.
A Dow Jones Newswire report said the figure cited was nearly doubleChina's reported gold reserves as of the end of last month, but notedthat it wasn't clear which gold reserves Hu was referring to.
She said China's gold reserves now rank fifth in the world among nations which publicly disclose their holdings.
Analysts said China bullion buying reflects efforts to diversify theirnearly $2 trillion stockpile of foreign exchange reserves.
"Chinese officials have been increasingly vocal about their concern onthe U.S. dollar and the U.S. bailout policies of late, and haveactively been seeking to diversify into other assets, especiallycommodities," said Martin Hennecke, an associate director with TycheGroup in Hong Kong.
Spot gold prices were up 0.9% to $912.20 an ounce in late Tokyo trading hours Friday.
In separate release Friday, China reported it foreign exchange reservestotaled $1.954 trillion at end of March, up from $1.946 trillion at theend of last year
