Russian gold floods into Hong Kong as bullion trade resumes due to Western sanctions

Russian gold is flowing into Hong Kong at a record pace, highlighting how Western sanctions are rerouting London-bound bullion to China and other Asian markets.

Hong Kong imported 112.7 tonnes of Russian gold in the first seven months of 2026, according to an analysis of Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data by precious metals investment firm BullionVault.

Imports have already exceeded a record high of 92.1 tons for all of 2025, compared to just 3.3 tons in 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move highlights how Russia’s gold trade has been rerouted since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which shut out the country’s producers from key Western markets, analysts told CNBC.

In the first seven months of this year, Russian bullion accounted for almost 15% of Hong Kong’s non-monetary gold imports, up from just 0.6% in 2021.

“Since the full-scale invasion, Hong Kong has emerged as an important hub for trade between Russia and China,” said Vita Spivak, senior consultant at Gatehouse Advisory Partners. “China has not imposed sanctions on Russian gold, so most of the gold is going to mainland China,” he told CNBC.

“Specifically when it comes to bullion, Hong Kong also offers advantages beyond sanctions avoidance. It provides direct access to the world’s largest gold-consuming market,” Spivak stressed.

The London Bullion Market Association suspended all six Russian gold and silver refiners from its Good Delivery List in March 2022. The United States, Britain and other Western countries have since imposed restrictions on Russian gold, effectively shutting down the market that had previously been a major destination for the country’s bullion.

Before the war, Russia’s gold industry was heavily dependent on London. Russia’s gold exports to the UK from 2019 to 2021 accounted for about two-thirds of the country’s mine production, according to BullionVault data.

“The fact that Hong Kong’s official data clearly shows a surge in Russian gold imports reflects the kind of support and bilateral trade that President Putin has repeatedly thanked President Xi Jinping for,” said Adrian Ash, research director at BullionVault.

“Gold exports from Russia to the UK and other Western sanctioned countries have naturally collapsed,” Ash added.

Hong Kong is a natural choice. The city has long served as a bullion gateway to mainland China, the world’s largest consumer of gold, and its storage, clearing and trading infrastructure is rapidly expanding.

“Hong Kong has always been an important gateway for gold flowing into China,” said Lorna O’Connell, head of EMEA and Asia market analysis at StoneX. Although Shanghai has gained market share in recent years, Hong Kong is now “competing with Singapore for hub supremacy and is about six months ahead in terms of infrastructure,” he said.

Historically, Hong Kong was China’s main gateway for gold imports, but Hong Kong’s share has since declined as Beijing has opened other import hubs, including Shenzhen and Beijing, according to S&P Global.

The flows from Russia are arriving just as China itself is in the midst of widespread gold buying.

China has designated gold as a “strategic mineral” and promoted physical bullion as a store of value for households, while the People’s Bank of China continues to add to its reserves.

China’s official gold holdings increased by more than 40 tonnes in the first half of 2026, more than double the amount purchased in the same period last year, according to S&P Global data.

“We know that whether it’s the People’s Bank of China or Chinese consumers, they’re all buying a significant amount of gold,” Charles Chan, head of corporate Greater China at S&P Global Ratings, told CNBC in an interview.

“In times of uncertainty, consumers tend to want to protect their savings and are finding gold as one way to do that,” he said.