We have been quoting Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) withdrawal figures as the definitive indicator of Chinese gold demand. Last year, gold researcher Koos Jansen published a series of three articles on his website – ingoldwetrust.ch – demonstrating that as far as the Chinese are concerned the country’s gold demand is equal to gold withdrawals from the SGE. For the first of these articles see Shanghai Gold Exchange Physical Delivery Equals Chinese Demand.

The SGE rules suggest that once gold is taken out of the exchange it cannot be returned to it, but more of this later as US precious metals analyst, Jeff Christian suggests this may not actually be the case.