Wednesday, 31st August 2005 (3296 views)

China has been gaining ground on India for gold consumption and the rivalry looks set to become even closer.

If the Chinese continue to purchase gold jewellery at ever-increasing rates then China's gold jewellery sales could total 600 tonnes in five years' time, reports the Economic Times of India.

The boom in demand for gold jewellery has been explained by a combination of factors.

Chinese salaries are increasing and providing the population with more disposable income for luxuries like jewellery, gold smuggling is reported to have significantly decreased, and the supply of gold had been deregulated.

Industry insiders have predicted that China's fast economic growth will continue but jewellery sales are also on the rise in the current top gold consumer India.

Indian gold demand rose to 643 tonnes in 2004, an increase of 17.6 per cent on last year, and all Asian gold markets are on the rise.

Nevertheless with a reported 13.9 per cent increase in retail sales for China's leading gold, silver and jewellery companies, Chinese demand is clearly increasing.

 

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