As China's Spring Festival approaches, gold sales across the country have continued to surge, despite the precious metal's soaring price.
In Zhengzhou, the capital of central China's Henan Province, customer interest in gold jewelry with designs of snake, the zodiac animal for the upcoming lunar year, remains strong, although gold jewelry prices hover around 700 yuan (about 95 U.S. dollars) per gram.
In the lead-up to the Chinese Lunar New Year, there has been a notable increase in consumers buying gold jewelry for weddings and birthdays. Many customers are opting for gold jewelry in sets and heavier pieces.
"We have a lot of orders for the traditional three pieces of gold jewelry for weddings. From Jan 1st to now, the number of customers has increased by one to two times compared to the other times. We also have a lot of large orders now," said Chen Jing, a gold store manager.
To lure in customers and ramp up sales during the festive season, gold stores have rolled out promotions such as discounts and the waiving of processing fees.
Similarly, in Shenzhen, a city in south China's Guangzhou Province, snake-themed gold jewelry is attracting not only local residents but also out-of-town customers.
"We came from Hubei Province specifically to buy gold jewelry in Shenzhen. We are quite satisfied with the design and the price of gold jewelry in Shenzhen," said a consumer.
"We have quite a lot of both wholesale and retail orders. In terms of categories, snake-themed rings and necklace sets are selling better, with the daily sales around two to three kilograms," said Chen Yan, a gold store owner.
Gold sales sparkle during Chinese festive season
