China’s growing aversion to the U.S. dollar virtually guarantees a floor under gold prices, which shot above $1,000 an ounce Tuesday.

So says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph.

Cheng Siwei, until recently vice chairman of the Communist Party’s Standing Committee, told Evans-Pritchard that China essentially has lost confidence in the dollar and will instead amass plentiful gold reserves.

“Gold is definitely an alternative, but when we buy, the price goes up,” Cheng, now a global economic ambassador for China, says.

“We have to do it carefully so as not stimulate the market.”

What that means, Evans-Pritchard points out, is that China will buy gold on dips — as policy. No wonder the precious metal’s price has been so well supported recently.

Here’s the best evidence of China’s gold buying: Its gold reserves have doubled to 1,054 metric tons, Evans-Pritchard, notes.

Cheng doesn’t have kind words for U.S. monetary policy.

“If they keep printing money to buy bonds, it will lead to inflation, and after a year or two, the dollar will fall hard,” he told Evans-Pritchard.

“Most of our foreign reserves are in U.S. bonds, and this is very difficult to change. So we will diversify incremental reserves into euros, yen and other currencies.”

In another sign of China’s move away from dependence on the dollar, it announced Tuesday that it will sell $880 million worth of renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. That marks the first time Beijing will offer renminbi bonds to foreign investors.