China's largest gold jewelry manufacturing and trading hub in Shenzhen has seen a consumer spending spree as the seven-day National Day holiday gets underway, with processing plants at full capacity to catch up with orders.
This year's National Day holiday runs from October 1 to 7. Known as the "Golden Week," the annual holiday is also a peak wedding season nationwide.
In China, gold jewelry is traditionally part of the betrothal gift given by the groom's family to the bride. A lot of soon-to-be married Chinese people have taken advantage of the week off to buy wedding gold at Shuibei area in Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province.
"I have received more than 100 groups of customers today. The turnover has increased about 40 percent, with the customer volume up by 30 percent," said Zhou Jiaxin, a merchant.
Although the international gold price remains high now, the processing fee is much lower at Shuibei market, making it an attractive place for younger consumers who are more sensitive to prices. This, coupled with the large number of shops offering a dazzling variety of designs, makes this area very competitive on a national scale.
During the National Day holiday, tourists from other parts of the country have become the main buyers of gold in this Shenzhen market.
"I took advantage of the holiday to explore this market. I heard that the Shuibei market has a cheaper price and more styles," said a tourist surnamed Su.
Rising prices have also made many gold holders choose to sell their assets at a profit. Many gold recycling shops at Shuibei market said that their business volume increased significantly this holiday season.
"The current recycling volume has increased by 60 percent over the same period last year. The recycling price for gold is 599 yuan (about 85 U.S. dollars) per gram, so people think that recycling is more cost-effective," said Jiang Wenci, a gold dealer.
The surge in demand has meant many jewelry makers are operating at full capacity .
Liu Jiancheng, head of the numerical control workshop at a gold jewelry company in Shenzhen, said that his factory has been extremely busy recently handling the spike in orders for wedding pieces.
"Orders in September were up 50 percent from July and August. The main product category is wedding jewelry, and the orders for "three gold" wedding products (necklace, earrings and ring) account for 70 percent (of the total)," said Liu.
Due to a decline in orders, some small and medium-sized jewelry makers had reduced their manpower earlier this year, but now gold dealers and producers say factories have been working overtime since mid-September.
"During the National Day holiday, the factory is working overtime to catch up with the orders. Our order volume has increased by about 20 percent during the National Day holiday," said Chen Yijie, a shop owner.
Gold jewelry makers have expanded the use of automatic and intelligent machines to improve production efficiency.
China's largest jewelry market sees gold buying spree as National Day holiday gets underway
Chinese embassies in the Maldives, Senegal and Qatar hosted National Day receptions for the 75th birthday of the People's Republic of China, which fell on Oct 1, with dignitaries and representatives speaking highly of China's developmental achievements.
The Chinese embassy in the Maldives held a reception to mark the anniversary on Monday, drawing more than 300 guests, including Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, other senior officials, representatives from the country's business community and academia, as well as people from Chinese-funded companies.
Muizzu sent his best wishes to the Chinese people at the event, saying that China has demonstrated to the world the power of strategic nation-building and unity.
"China's rise is not just its own story - it is a source of inspiration for all developing nations, including the Maldives. Through the reforms initiated under visionary leadership, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, creating unprecedented prosperity and becoming the world's second largest economy. For us in the Maldives, China's transformation is a powerful testament to the possibilities that emerge when nations dare to dream big and act decisively," said the president.
The Chinese embassy in Senegal held the reception on Monday at the Museum of Black Civilizations that was designed and constructed by Chinese companies.
The event was attended by Chinese ambassador Xiao Han, Senegalese Minister of Armed Forces Birame Diop, as well as diplomatic envoys from other countries, representatives of Chinese-funded institutions and overseas Chinese in the African country.
Diop praised the honest friendship and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in his speech.
"On behalf of His Excellency President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, head of state of Senegal, and the people of Senegal, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, and to the people of China. We gather here on the occasion of China's National Day, which once again demonstrates the sincere friendship and exemplary cooperation between our two countries," said Diop.
The National Day reception held at the Chinese embassy in Qatar on Monday gathered more than 600 attendees including Chinese ambassador Cao Xiaolin and Qatari Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Thani.
The attendees wished China prosperity and looked forward to the continuous development of China-Qatar relations.
"As far as the economic achievements I concern during last over 70 years by China, it is a miracle. And I won't say miracle, actually it is a hard work and efforts of the leadership and the people themselves that they are united, achieving this historical, remarkable economic achievements," said Ashraf Siddiqui, president and chief editor of Asian Telegraph Qatar.
A local Chinese learner also expressed his sincere wishes to friends thousands of kilometers away in Chinese language.
"I have learned Chinese for also most one year now, and I learned many things about China. I would like to congratulate Chinese people in Chinese language. (Switch to Chinese) Hello China! Happy National Day," said Yusuf, a Qatari university student.
Chinese embassies host National Day receptions
