Falsified gold deals uncovered in China

Chinese gold processing firms have since 2012 used falsified gold transactions to borrow 94.4 billion yuan (HK$118.7 billion) from banks, the mainland's chief auditor said.

Commodities such as copper, rubber, soya beans and bullion have commonly been used on the mainland for financing, where traders or investors borrow against the commodity with the aim of investing the money in high-return areas such as real estate or shadow banking.

Most such deals are legitimate, but revelations of borrowing based on fake transactions in the gold market by the national auditor, which comes on the heels of alleged metals financing fraud at Qingdao Port, may prompt authorities to launch another crackdown on commodity financing.

Spot checks on 25 companies that process bullion, such as jewellers, showed they made a combined profit of more than 900 million yuan by using the bank loans to take advantage of the difference between onshore and offshore interest rates, as well the appreciation of the mainland currency, according to a report published this week on the National Audit Office's website.

Chinese firms could have locked up as much as 1,000 tonnes of gold in financing deals by the end of 2013, the World Gold Council said in April, indicating a big slice of imports has been used to raise funds due to tight credit conditions, rather than to meet consumer demand.

At current prices, that would be worth about US$42 billion.