Privately owned gold stocks in China have reached nearly 3,000 tons (6.62 million pounds), tripling that of the 1,054-ton national treasury reserves, the fifth largest in the world, said a deputy governor of the central bank Tuesday.

"However, gold stock will no longer be the major component of China's foreign exchange reserves," said Yi Gang, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China and also Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Apart from the precious metal's unsound yield, Yi explained that since the world gold market is limited, large purchases by China will inevitably push up the international price further dampening any hopes of a good return.