Zhou Baolin, who owns a jewellery shop at Yu Garden, a major gold trading hub in Shanghai, has seen his business run hot and cold since the start of the year.“During the first two months of the year, I sold an average of 2kg to 3kg of gold each day,” he added. “Now daily sales have slumped to just 100 grams or 200 grams.”Zhou was left to rue losses over the past two months because of a downturn in global gold prices, with his sales plunging by around 90 per cent.As he saw it, Chinese consumers were refraining from buying investment-grade gold products and gold jewellery due to worries about a further fall in prices of the precious metal after a dramatic rally earlier this year.This hesitation comes as global gold prices have pulled back from record highs amid shifting US interest rate expectations, a stronger dollar and profit-taking.However, buying interest would be unlikely to dry up because of Chinese people’s age-long tradition in keeping the metal due to their belief that gold represented wealth and auspiciousness, industry insiders said.
Gold slump: China’s sales plunge as precious metal’s price dips
While China’s interest in gold is unlikely to fade, investment-grade product sales have dwindled after 15 months of retail growth.
TL;DRAI
China's gold sales in Shanghai fell 90%—from 2-3kg daily to 100-200g—as prices retreated and consumers feared further declines. The collapse signals weakening purchasing power in Asia's largest economy, reducing enterprise and consumer tech spending in China.
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