China sells off record amount of dollar assets

Gold's share in China's official reserves rose to 4.9% in April, the highest on record, Sputnik reported.

"It is a wise decision to diversify away from USD and to hold physical gold in your own country instead," Claudio Grass, an expert on monetary history, economics and an independent precious metals advisor based out of Switzerland, told Sputnik.

He called US bonds "a bad investment" because "they have not worked, especially since 2022, and are guaranteed to lose money."

Dwelling on a common trend of countries seeking to cut Treasury holdings and buy more gold, he said that "by now it should be obvious that the US government is the world bully today."

Asked how the latest developments could affect the greenback on the global markets, Grass argued that "it will lead to the collapse of the USD and the current system."
"It is obvious that the Western civilization is being destroyed by their own corrupted and rotten political system and its rulers. The renewed politically enforced separation of the East and the West will lead to turmoil and chaos," he added.

Bloomberg News earlier reported that China selling off Treasury bonds is "garnering renewed investor attention amid signs that tensions between the world’s largest economies may worsen."

This comes as Beijing vowed to retaliate against the Biden administration’s tough new levies on a wide array of Chinese-made goods, ranging from semiconductors and solar power cells to electric cars - the latest move in the escalating trade war between China and the US.

The warning followed the White House accusing China of "non-market policies and practices" resulting in "growing overcapacity and export surges that threaten to significantly harm American workers, businesses and communities."

The developments were preceded by a spate of restrictive measures imposed on China by the Trump administration after it launched a trade war with Beijing in 2018, with Team Biden declining to roll back any of the restrictions put in place by its predecessors. China responded to the Trump-era measures with tit-for-tat restrictions on American exports, ranging from food goods to major American brand name products like Harley Davidson motorcycles and Jack Daniels whiskey.

In stark contrast, Beijing continues to deepen a comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction with Moscow, which was confirmed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as part of his two-day visit to China earlier this week.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the eighth Russian-Chinese Expo and the fourth forum of inter-regional cooperation in Harbin on Friday, Putin underscored that Moscow supports Beijing’s intention to localize production on Russian soil and is ready to provide Chinese investors with privileges.

He added that the Russian-Chinese "indissoluble partnership directly contributes to the growth of the economies of both countries, reliably ensures energy security, stimulates the creation of new industries and high-paying jobs, as well as improves the well-being and quality of life of our citizens."

MNA