Recent television advertisements by China's Central Television, which is state-controlled, has urged its citizens to purchase gold and silver bullion.
According to a report published by the
Thunder Road Report, an announcer in one advertisement tells the viewers that it is very easy to purchase silver bullion, “China has introduced its first ever investment opportunity for silver bullion. The bars are available in 500g, 1kg, 2kg and 5kg with a purity of 99.9%. Figures show that gold was fifty times more expensive than silver in 2007, but now that figure has reached over seventy times. Analysts say that silver has been undervalued in recent years. They add that the metal is the right investment for individual investors and could be a good way to cash in.”
The announcer further adds that silver has been undervalued for several years and investment in that particular bullion is “the right investment for individual investors and could be a good way to cash in.”
Advertisements continued to discuss figures regarding gold by mentioning that in 2007 gold was fifty times more expensive than silver and now it has reached seventy times.
This is a complete 180 in China, where the government put strict controls on the bullion market and dissuaded its citizens to enter that market but now, with the global economic crisis, it seems that the Chinese authorities will lax restrictions.
One manager from
MetalMiner believes this move, due to all the speculation in property and shares, will be an attempt to relieve excess liquidity from the market however, many Chinese, according to the manager, want to keep their cash savings in case for an emergency such as a sickness or family related situations.
Zaman Moniruz, CEO of
The Bullion Mart in Toronto, one of the few bullion dealers in the Greater Toronto Area, said on Friday that he believes that gold is the only safe haven, no matter what investors try to say. He further added that China is one of the few countries that are doing things the correct way, "We want to protect our money the right way."
Why are they doing this? Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital and potential Republican Connecticut Senator, said, discussing this topic with
Fox Business News this week, the Chinese are doing this because they own a significant amount of United States dollars and if China owns majority of bullion in the world then, Schiff asks, where will the United States go to purchase gold and or silver?
Mineweb believes that this is a strong indicator that gold will dramatically rise, possibly within the near future. Lawrence Williams, author of the story, further suggests that even a small increase in the bullion market could make a significant impact on the prices of gold and silver.
Paul Atherley, Leyshon Resources managing director, comments on the recent Chinese purchasing gold move, according to
Mineweb, “Simply put, the Chinese government is trying to trigger a national gold craze...and it's working. The Chinese public now has gold trading platforms on steroids.... ...Also, for the first time in history, Chinese investors can even trade gold abroad (in London) with the swipe of a ‘Lucky Gold' card. I can't even get Bank of America to open a foreign currency account.”
Currently, market reports by
CNBC state gold is trading at $1,007USD and silver is priced at $16.70USD.
