Chinanews, Beijing, Feb. 10 – In 2006, China’s gold output exceeded 240 tons, increasing by 7.1% from 2005. During the same period, China consumed 300 tons of gold, said Lu Wenyuan, deputy chairman of the China Gold Association on Thursday.

 

Since China opened its gold market in 2002, the country’s gold output has grown by 6% year on year. At the same time, gold consumption has also increased. In 2005, China became the world’s fourth biggest gold producer and the world’s third biggest country for gold consumer.

 

Due to backward techniques, there are also some problems in China’s gold consumption. Although China is a large country in gold consumption, it is not actually a strong country in this aspect, since most of Chinese gold enterprises merely process gold jewelleries for Italy and other Western countries. China processes a lot of gold products without much designing work.

 

In China, most of the gold products are bought by elderly people, since they are the group that are influenced by the Chinese tradition by which gold and silver jewellries are regarded as symbols of wealth. Not many young people in China favor these gold products, because they are not designed in fashionable styles and also because many young people think that wearing gold is a manifestation of low taste.

 

In order to change the situation, the China Gold Association will begin to launch a series of new gold products from March. All these products, which share the common name of “China fashion”, are all designed by Chinese designers, who incorporate traditional elements and modern styles in their designs. It is hoped that the new products will stimulate the gold consumption market in China.