Cambodia announced today that it is among the first nations to place part of its official gold reserves under Chinese custody, marking the first tangible step in Beijing’s effort to position itself as a global bullion storage hub.

London is not where central banks actually keep their gold. Most of it is held domestically. The reason London matters is because the BIS uses it as the hub for leasing and hedging. If countries begin placing their reserves in China—or more likely in the SGEI global vault network—that weakens the European supply pool available for leasing.

According to a report by Bloomberg News, the Southeast Asian country plans to store some of its reserves in a vault registered with the Shanghai Gold Exchange, located within Shenzhen’s bonded zone. The arrangement involves newly purchased bullion rather than the transfer of existing holdings, and several other nations are said to be evaluating similar arrangements as they consider diversifying from traditional storage centers such as London and Zurich.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-11-05/breaking-central-bank-chooses-china-gold-vaulting