Staying with gold. How has the recent rise in prices affected sales in the consumer and investment markets? Let's tour China's largest gold wholesale market to find out.
Each morning, wholesalers from all over the country gather in the Shenzhen Shuibei gold wholesale market. They bring a tray with them to pick products. The wholesale market weighs gold not in the unit of gram like it on the consumer end, but by kilograms here.
He Fangwei from Anhui owns four gold shops. He comes to Shenzhen every month to make purchases. But recently he's adjusting his selection, as more of his customers are now asking about large grammes of gold jewelry. He says that's probably because of the recent price surges.
HE FANGWEI, SHOP OWNER ANHUI PROVINCE "These each weighs more than 60 grams, and these are more than 50 grams. We didn't sell much of such goods in the past, but recently some people have asked about it, so we've got more."
Gold prices have been rising continuously since May. Experts say the gold market usually becomes hotter when the price goes up.
LU YIHUI RAW GOLD MATERIAL MANUFACTURER "Recently in the jewelry industry, the recycling of used jewelry materials, as well as the purchase of old gold bars has become a larger business."
Gold, as a hedging investment, has attracted more attention in 2019. That's with the increasing uncertainty of the international economic situation.