China’s demand for gold surged by 54 per cent in the first six months of 2013, pushing the Asian country towards being the world’s top bullion consumer ahead of India and helping to bolster the yellow metal after its recent decline, media reports said.

Citing figures issued earlier this week by the China Gold Association, reports said consumption reached 706.36 metric tons in the first half of the year. The association is supported financially by miners, refiners and jewellery makers and retailers.

Demand hit a record 385.5 metric tons in the second quarter of this year, about double the figure from a year earlier, the Wall Street Journal said, having analysed details of the data.

Figures from the World Gold Council, the pan-industry and investment group, are due to issue figures later this week.

One factor which may have prompted the surge in demand has been the recent drop in the price of gold – currently trading around $1,300 per ounce (source: BullionVault); in September 2011, the metal fetched over $1,921 as fears of a eurozone crack-up and concerns about the scale of central bank monetary expansion boosted the price. Subsequently, expectations have grown that the US Federal Reserve in particular will decelerate, and ultimately reverse, its quantitative easing policy enacted since the 2008 financial crisis. These expectations have underpinned the dollar, and worked to reduce gold’s attractions as a safe-haven asset.