Editor’s Note
This analysis examines the shifting dynamics of China’s jewellery market, where soaring gold prices and intense competition are driving consolidation among major retailers. However, as the article explores, evolving consumer preferences continue to reveal new opportunities for growth.
Consumers have adopted a cautious spending attitude towards gold jewellery amid the gold price rally, and Chinese jewellery retailers have continued to face fierce competition in 2025. Price competition and product homogenisation have translated into industry consolidation: major Chinese jewellery brands have started to reduce points of sale (POS).
But there are bright spots and further potential in this seemingly saturated market as consumer spending on gold jewellery has remained elevated. Gold jewellery products are still attractive to consumers.
To explore current trends and future opportunities, we conducted our 2025 annual Chinese jewellery retailer research in partnership with China Gold News for the sixth consecutive year. Complementing our recently published 2025 Chinese Gold Jewellery Consumer Insights, we dived into the market through the lens of the retailer and found that:
- Gold products continue to dominate Chinese jewellery retailer sales, with Hard Pure gold products outperforming others.
- Heritage and Hard Pure gold jewellery products remain key sources of retailers’ profit.
- Although gold jewellery products are becoming lighter in weight, consumer spending rose.
- Buying for self-indulgent wear remains key in retailer jewellery sales.
- Retailer optimism around gold product sales is intact; self-indulgent buying may continue to drive business in the future.
Chinese gold jewellery demand volumes experienced continued weaknesses during the first half of 2025. As our Gold Demand Trends report noted, the weakest Q2 since 2007 took China’s total H1 gold jewellery demand to 194t, 28% lower year-on-year, the lowest H1 since 2009. Yet while volumes were down, consumer spending on gold jewellery during the first half reached RMB137bn (US$19bn), on a par with 2024 and not too far from the record set in H1 2013 (RMB163bn).
As mentioned in our recently published 2025 Chinese gold jewellery consumer insights, the ownership of gold jewellery among Chinese consumers reached 81%, the highest of all fashion and lifestyle items. More significantly, the majority of those who have purchased gold jewellery before would consider buying again in the near future (75%).
Looking forward to H2, seasonality will likely help improve tonnage demand for gold jewellery. Although total demand volumes in full year 2025 may decline compared to 2024, we expect consumer gold jewellery expenditure to remain near levels seen in recent years.
That said, uncertainties prevail for jewellers. For instance, should they reduce the share of gold products in their stores – gold inventories have been built up over recent years – and increase other categories? Has the dominance of gold products decreased in 2025? Which gold products contribute the highest profit? And how have combinations of 24K gold and various other materials performed? By reviewing past performance and examining the future through the lens of the retailer, we believe we can provide guidance for market participants, particularly at a time when the industry is consolidating.
2025 marks our sixth annual Chinese jewellery retailer survey in collaboration with China Gold News. We collected 576 effective responses via a combination of online questionnaires and offline in-depth interviews from Chinese jewellery retail shop managers and regional heads. We captured market insights from various tiers of cities, covering areas with strong economic growth and regions with relatively lower incomes. Our survey includes both jewellery shops at malls (56%) and street stores (44%), representing different dynamics.
During the first half, gold products remain the most dominant force in China, but divergence between jewellery and investment emerges.
Compared to H1 2024, we saw a modest decline in gold jewellery’s dominance as the surging gold price depressed sales to some extent. But the attractive gold price performance played well to gold investment demand, as seen by the rise in bar and coin’s contribution to retailer sales – trends we detail in our Q2 Gold Demand Trends.
We observed continued shrinkage in sales contributions from diamond and platinum jewellery products. But jewellery items such as gems, jade and pearls were the bright spot – these colourful and more affordable accessories captured rising attention from young consumers.
Among various gold products,