On the occasion of the launch of the Shanghai International Gold Exchange on September 19, 2014, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBOC), reflected on his country’s view of gold. “The gold market,” he said, “is an important and integral part of China’s financial market. We are now the largest gold producer, as well as the biggest gold importer and consumer in the world. . . The People’s Bank of China will continue to support the sustainable growth and sound development of China’s gold market.”

“Can you imagine,” asks Koos Jansen, the Holland-based expert on China’s gold market, “Mario Draghi or Janet Yellen attending the opening ceremony of a gold exchange in Frankfurt or New York, let alone speaking about the importance of gold?”

When it comes to the gold market, China is the dragon in the room. With its nearly $4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and potential purchasing power, that presence is formidable.