OREANDA-NEWS  Hong Kong has increased gold imports from Russia by 10 times. From January to August 2023, the special administrative region of China acquired $ 3.51 billion worth of precious metal, with reference to data from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong government, TASS reports.

In August, the Asian region purchased Russian gold worth 6.96 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 892.3 million dollars). This is a record figure in the history of statistics. The agency has been publishing data since 2012. Hong Kong has updated historical highs for the fourth month in a row: in May, gold imports amounted to $ 408.59 million, in June — $ 485.9 million, and in July — $ 747.44 million.

After the introduction of Western sanctions, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and China became the key buyers of Russian gold. These three countries accounted for 99.8 percent of Russian gold supplies. From February 24, 2022 to March 3, 2023, the UAE imported 75.7 tons of gold worth 4.3 billion dollars, China and Turkey — 20 tons of gold each. At the same time, supplies to China went through Hong Kong.

Until 2022, most of the Russian gold was sent to London, but the London Precious Metals Market Association suspended the Good Delivery status for Russian refineries, without which sales to Europe are impossible. Later, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, the United States, Canada and Japan imposed a ban on the import of Russian bullion.