Implode-o-Meter News - Is Asian gold demand really slipping so much?

Reuters reports Hong Kong net gold exports to mainland China in July as falling to the lowest level since June 2011 at 22 tonnes (Bloomberg reports the figure as 21 tonnes).... [But] While Hong Kong was very much the primary routing for gold entering the Chinese mainland in the past, indications are that this may no longer be the case as China has now designated a number of other points as import points for gold -- notably Shanghai and Beijing. But as it does not publish statistics for these, overall import figures are much more opaque.
[Koos Jansen] sees total Chinese demand to August 1st as 1,094 tonnes and imports to this date are estimated at 688 tonnes. Extrapolating for the full year this could suggest total annual imports of 1,170 tonnes, although given there was an import surge in January and February the figures might not be directly comparable -- but even so it does mean Chinese gold imports may well amount to perhaps around 1,000 tonnes for the whole of 2014.

Relevant:

Is Asian gold demand really slipping so much? - Lawrence Williams