Gold imports into China, the world’s top bullion consumer, have soared this year as investors flock to the metal to safeguard their cash amid rising inflation, a report said yesterday.

The country imported 209.7 tonnes of gold in the first 10 months of the year, up 480 per cent from the same period last year, the China Business News said, citing Shen Xiangrong, chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

Mr Shen said trading by individual Chinese investors grew “rapidly and robustly” this year on “high enthusiasm”, according to the report.

Trade in gold by individual traders reached 973.8 tonnes in the period, up 247.3 per cent from a year ago and accounting for nearly 20 per cent of total transactions, the report said.

The report came as inflation spiralled this year in China, where a traditional fondness for the precious metal as a hedge against social and economic risks remains deep.

The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, hit a two-year high of 4.4 percent in October, largely due to soaring food costs and above the government’s official full-year target of three per cent.

China’s consumption of gold hit 454 tonnes last year, overtaking India to become the world’s largest, according to the report.

The country surpassed South Africa in 2007 to become the world’s biggest miner of gold, with production last year standing at 314 tonnes, it added.

The Asian nation’s surging demand for bullion has helped fuel rises in international gold prices, which hit an all-time high of $1,424 an ounce in London last month.

Gold opened yesterday at $1,391 – $1,392 an ounce in Hong Kong.