China, which bought gold hand over fist for the last 10 years, has lost its ardor for the precious metal, with the World Gold Council estimating its purchases will be unchanged this year.

The loss of demand stems from China's economic slowdown and restrictive conditions in its credit markets, The Wall Street Journal reports. China announced Wednesday that its GDP expanded 7.4 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in 1 ½ years.

China's gold purchases have risen in every year since 2002, and soared 32 percent in 2013, according to the World Gold Council. That helped the nation surpass India as the world's biggest gold consumer.

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China's shrunken appetite for gold could put the precious metal's recent rally at risk, investors and analysts tell The Journal.

"The situation in China is certainly a headwind," Vedant Mimani, portfolio manager of the Atyant Capital Global Opportunities Fund, tells the paper. "This demand that's been there for 11 years has become questionable."

However, longer term the outlook is good for the metal. Private sector demand for gold in China is expected to increase from the current level of 1,132 metric tons per year to at least 1,350 metric tons by 2017, the report notes.

Gold has climbed about 8 percent this year, after a 28 percent plunge in 2013. Gold prices steadied on Wednesday after falling nearly 2 percent Tuesday.  Spot gold was at $1,302.20 an ounce at 0908 GMT, little changed from $1,302.04 late on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up $2.40 an ounce at $1,302.70, Reuters reported.

Some investors turned bearish on gold after it dropped 1.8 percent Tuesday. "The early April uptrend is now broken, and if it wasn't for Ukraine, we would be closer to $1,280," Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital, tells Reuters.

"There is hardly any physical consumer demand or investor interest to support gold on price pullbacks."

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