Demand for gold from top consumer China will remain strong at around 900-1,000 tonnes next year, near 2015 levels, although a weaker appetite for jewellery and slowing economy could curb purchases, an official of the World Gold Council said.

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Continued firm demand from China should help underpin global benchmark gold prices that have come off two-year highs as expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike by year-end strengthened the dollar. But the precious metal remains up 18 % for 2016, following a three-year decline.

"We believe we may keep a certain level of about 900-1,000 tonnes of annual consumption (in 2017), but it may face some challenges especially on the jewellery side and also it depends on the price and China's own economic situation," Roland Wang, managing director for China at the World Gold Council, told Reuters on the fringes of an industry conference in Singapore.