<Anchor>
Nowadays, when the price of gold is literally
the price of gold, there are big hands who buy gold in large quantities. Central banks around the world, especially China's gold hoarding.

Reporter Yu Duk-ki found out why.

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As the number of people trying to sell gold at the
skyrocketing price increased, so did the hand of sorting gold.

[Shin Jeong-eun/Gold Trading Company Employee: It seems that the work has definitely increased a bit by more than 5 times (than before).]

Domestic gold prices hit new highs this month, and international gold futures, which began rising again late last year, exceeded $1,2 per ounce.

International financial market jitters, concerns about a recession, and a weaker dollar are among the factors that have had an impact.

What has been noticeable lately is the buying of gold by central banks around the world.

Last year, central banks around the world bought 1,136 tons of gold, up 152% from a year ago.

Hoarding continued this year.

In the first quarter alone, Singapore bought 1 tonnes of gold, China bought 69 tonnes and Turkiye bought 58 tonnes.

Notably, the People's Bank of China, which had not started buying gold for three years, increased its gold reserves for six consecutive months since November last year.

The analysis is that the intention is to reduce dependence on the dollar amid the events in Ukraine and the US-China conflict.

[Jemin Choi/Korea Investment & Securities Research Institute: In the current situation of intensifying US-China tensions and weaponization of the dollar, the demand for gold is bound to increase.]

This movement has been going on for some time, and it is expected that the volume of gold purchases by central banks in various countries this year will be the highest ever.

In a recent survey of 30 central banks, more than two-thirds said their gold reserves will increase this year.

The Bank of Korea's gold reserve is 3 tonnes, the 11th largest in the world, and it has not bought another 6 years since February 83.

(Video Interview: Yoo Dong-hyuk, Video Editor: Kim Yoon-sung, CG: Im Chan-hyuk)