Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. China has emerged as a major force behind the recent surge in gold prices, with its growing influence projected to surpass even that of the U.S. dollar, according to a top economist. China Buys Up Gold “China is playing a key role in the ongoing rise in gold prices because of central bank buying, arbitrage trading, and increased speculative and safe-haven demand among Chinese households,” Torsten Slok, the ...