Gold price in RMB buoyed by strong demand

BEIJING -- Liu Jie, a resident of Beijing, received a gold bean from her friend as a 30th-birthday gift recently.

"I asked my best friend to buy me a gold bean for my birthday," Liu said. "It's a kind of investment. Gold is a safe store of value and can be easily recycled."

Like Liu, many Chinese people have an increasing appetite for the safe-haven asset, whether in the form of gold bars, coins, necklaces, bracelets or beans. The pill-like bling, which only weighs approximately one gram, has become a fashionable choice for Chinese gold hoarders.

Bolstered by the strong demand, the RMB-denominated gold price has generally remained bullish this year, growing by 11 percent from the start of 2023.

The latest data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange shows that the price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above closed at 466 yuan ($64.9) per gram on Wednesday, sustaining the recent recovery.

At the Shuibei market, a gold jewelry manufacturing and trading hub in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, consumer flow and gold sales this year have rebounded to the pre-pandemic level of 2019, said Chen Yuwan, general manager assistant of Shenzhen Jewelry Industry Service Co Ltd.

"On life-sharing platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin, content on how to buy gold jewelry and beans has been trending and widely searched," Chen added.

Gold manufacturers and dealers are also adjusting their market strategies to fully tap into the gold rush. Gao Dayan, who owns six franchised gold stores in East China's Shandong province, said that innovative products such as heritage gold, hard-pure gold, and "China-chic" jewelry are gaining popularity among consumers.

Gao said that, as he aligns his marketing with the new consumption trend, the total sales volume of his six stores from January to September is up by about 20 percent from the same period last year.

According to data from the China Gold Association, gold consumption in the Chinese market jumped 16.37 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year. Specifically, the consumption of gold jewelry increased 14.82 percent, and that of gold bars and coins by 30.12 percent.

A recent report released by the World Gold Council said that gold continues to dominate the country's jewelry market, with the inventory of gold accounting for 67 percent of the total jewelry inventory in Chinese jewelry outlets as of mid-year. The proportion expanded from 52 percent in 2021, according to the report.

Looking ahead, Liu Richeng, director of the futures department of Xiwang International Trade Co Ltd, said that although the RMB gold market has shown a relatively independent trajectory this year, it is still driven by the international market in general.

Liu said that both RMB and international gold prices fell in late September, which can be regarded as a correction to the price difference between the domestic and global gold markets. Liu projected that high premiums may return in the future.

Song Jiangzhen, a senior researcher at Guangdong Southern Gold Market Academy, said that considering investors' concerns over the international geopolitical situation, global gold prices are expected to see increased growth momentum in the short run.