Questions have been swirling about what is behind the recent surge in gold (and general spike across all commodity prices). This may be the answer.
Today the SCMP reported that it is "just a matter of time before China’s central bank pulls out a controversial monetary policy tool that it has not used in more than two decades" adding that President Xi ordered the PBOC to inject liquidity into the economy via buying central government bonds (CGB), quoting his previous comments on monetary policy at the Central Financial Work Conference last year - "the People’s Bank of China should gradually increase the trading of treasury bonds in its open market operations".
Though the exact quote didn't seem to point to a direct order for PBOC to buy CGB in the secondary market, some investors interpreted this news as a green light for rapid PBOC balance sheet expansion.