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Wednesday, 14th May 2008 (2588 views)

Gold jewellery contributed to a 41 per cent year-on-year rise in sales of jewellery in China, new figures reportedly show.

Newspaper the Economic Times says figures from the country's National Bureau of Statistics show that jewellery also helped to drive a 22 per cent rise in retail sales to 814.2 billion yuan (£59.85 billion) over the 12 months to April 2008.

In urban areas, sales of consumer goods such as gold jewellery and watches was up 22.9 per cent to top 555.9 billion yuan, while rural areas saw sales growth of 20.1 per cent to 258.3 billion yuan.

The growth in sales is being fuelled by China's economic boom, which has seen the creation of a new and more affluent middle class with the money to purchase gold jewellery as a fashion accessory as well as a long-term investment, Agence France-Presse recently reported.

It says per capita income in China's major cities rose 17.2 per cent last year to 13,786 yuan, brining gold jewellery into the price range of a much wider market.

According to figures from consultancy GFMS, China recently overtook South Africa as the world's biggest gold producer.

 

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