Younger generations discovering Gold as safe haven in China.
With the country’s younger generation driving a resurgence in popularity of gold this year, the precious metal is returning to its former glory.
Chinese consumers favored diamonds and other gems over yellow metal during the Spring Festival holiday, but consumption of the yellow metal remained robust.
Gold jewelry and Year of the Dragon gold bars have emerged as the most popular products for Chinese New Year celebrations this year, according to the China Gold Association.
Several policies aimed at stimulating consumption have helped the domestic consumer market recover steadily, with gold and silver jewelry emerging as the fastest-growing categories last year.
In recent years, China’s central bank and retail consumers alike have turned to gold for safe-haven purposes, according to Zhang Yongtao, vice-president and secretary-general of the China Gold Association.
In addition, gold jewelry processing and retail enterprises in China have continuously innovated their products, driving increased demand for gold jewelry. Consumers seeking physical gold investments also prefer gold bars and coins with relatively low premiums.
Gold jewelry featuring the zodiac sign of the dragon has been particularly popular this year, even though the Spring Festival holiday has always been a peak season for gold sales. Consumers haven’t been deterred by rising gold prices, according to Beijing Caishikou Department Store.
Several Chinese gold jewelers are designing various jewelry products bearing traditional Chinese cultural elements to satisfy the aesthetic needs of young consumers.
Shandong Gold Group, for example, said it has been actively engaged in exchanges and cooperation with universities, inheritors of intangible cultural heritages, and cultural and art institutions, to better explore the integration of traditional culture with innovation in gold jewelry designs and techniques, in order to inject vitality into the gold industry.
Fashionable and lightweight gold jewelry has gained significant favor among consumers, contributing to the overall increase in gold jewelry consumption, said the association.
Young Chinese aged between 25 and 34 have become the main force of gold consumption, with their proportion at 59 percent in 2023. In the future, consumers under the age of 25 will become new major gold buyers, it said.
Gold jewelry, once considered old-fashioned, is now drawing interest from younger Chinese. Demand has been pretty decent, considering where the price is, said Nikos Kavalis, managing director at consultancy Metals Focus Ltd.
In the not-too-distant past, gold symbolized the taste of the older generations, but it is now a statement of Generation Z’s identity that represents both personal style and cultural loyalty, said Wang Zhongwu, professor at the School of Philosophy and Social Development of Shandong University.
Wang Lixin, CEO of the World Gold Council (China), has said previously that the introduction of various economic stimulus measures with a focus on consumption has also contributed to the growth in purchases of gold jewelry since last year.
The country’s gold consumption rose 8.78 percent year-on-year to 1,089.69 metric tons in 2023, according to the association.
Of the total, gold jewelry consumption hit 706.48 tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.97 percent, while gold bars and coins touched 299.6 tons, up 15.7 percent year-on-year, it said.
Gold production, meanwhile, rose 0.84 percent year-on-year to 375.155 tons, it said.
The council believes gold output and consumption will remain in the positive territory and continue to garner attention from global investors in 2024, fueled by economic recovery and sustained purchases by the central bank.
It is good to see younger generations Find refuge in gold. Younger generations discovering gold as safe haven.
