The People’s Republic has gold reserves worth $10.8 billion (£6.2 billion), based on yesterday’s $558.60 gold fix in London, compared with about $6.6 billion at the end of 2002, when China last increased its stake.

The Chinese central bank holds 600 tonnes of gold, according to new figures from the World Gold Council, the gold industry’s marketing arm.

China almost doubled its gold reserves to the 600 tonne level between 2000 and 2002, at a time when the Chancellor was a bullion seller.

British taxpayers missed out on £3.6 billion (£2.1 billion) worth of gold profits because Mr Brown sold most of the country’s reserves during the 1998-2002 gold price slump.

Mr Brown’s dismal record is matched only by his counterparts in Switzerland and the Netherlands, which have been among the most active sellers of gold over the past five years.

Switzerland’s decision to sell 908.3 tonnes of gold between January 2002 and March 2005 has cost it about $8 billion in forgone profits. Its central bank will argue that the sell-off was part of a strategy to diversify its foreign reserves. Unlike Britain, Switzerland still has a sizeable gold holding of 1,290 tonnes, worth $23.1 billion.

China’s fiscal leaders, on the other hand, held on to their bullion investment. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the gold price was at its lowest level in 20 years, but it has since recovered to trade near 25-year highs. The surging price of gold has been driven by uncertainty about the state of the American economy and by booming demand for jewellery.

Britain has kept 310.8 tonnes of gold, worth $5.6 billion, a relatively small holding compared with most Western European countries. Gold reserves make up 11.6 per cent of the UK’s total foreign reserves.

America, the world’s biggest economy, also heads the list of nations placing their faith in the precious metal. America’s gold reserves are 8,135 tonnes, worth $146 billion and accounting for 73.2 per cent of America’s total foreign reserves. The central banks of Germany and Italy are similarly fond of gold as a prudent investment, and alongside France, which has reduced its gold holding, hold more than half their total foreign reserves in gold.

Investor interest in gold was reinforced yesterday by the 6 per cent surge in AngloGold Ashanti’s New York share price to $51.41. The shares are trading about $21 higher than a year ago.

The positive reaction followed confirmation from Anglo American, the London-based diversified mining group, that it would reduce its stake in AngloGold Ashanti from 51 per cent to as low as 41 per cent.

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