Editor’s Note
This article reports on a notable decline in gold prices across major Chinese markets as of December 20, 2025, citing specific data from the Shanghai Gold Exchange and leading banks.
Gold prices have indeed fallen. On December 20, 2025, the price boards in the domestic gold market were quietly updated. At the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the price of Gold T+D settled at 977.4 yuan per gram, while the main contract for Shanghai Gold was quoted at 983.14 yuan.
At the physical gold bar counters of major banks, China Construction Bank’s price was 991.3 yuan per gram, ICBC’s Ruyi Gold Bar was 996.05 yuan, and Bank of China’s was 990.37 yuan. All these figures were lower than before.
What ordinary consumers felt more keenly was the easing of jewelry gold prices.
The national listed price for China Gold’s 999 pure gold jewelry dropped from 1,267 yuan to 1,255 yuan, a decrease of 12 yuan per gram.
In Beijing and Shanghai flagship stores, this price was strictly enforced. However, if you were in Guangzhou, sales staff might nod in agreement to a transaction at 1,252 yuan. Nevertheless, all beautiful gold jewelry requires an additional processing fee, ranging from 20 to 80 yuan per gram.
The price list for investment gold bars was also adjusting downward. China Gold’s investment gold bars had a national listed price of 1,168 yuan per gram. But in Shenzhen’s Shuibei, the largest jewelry wholesale distribution center in the country, the price could be as low as 1,130 yuan per gram through cooperative channels. A price difference of 38 yuan per gram clearly delineated the boundary between retail and wholesale.
The movements in the international market served as the backdrop for the domestic gold price adjustments. Gold futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange performed weakly during the same period. Fluctuations in the US dollar index and changes in the bond yields of major economies influenced global capital preferences. Some analysts pointed out in reports that the demand for safe-haven assets seemed to have eased in the short term.
The pace of central bank gold purchases was also closely watched by the market.
According to recent data released by the World Gold Council, the accumulation speed of global official gold reserves slowed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Although the long-term trend of increasing holdings had not reversed, the monthly net purchases decreased. This change was interpreted by some traders as a sign that a major force supporting gold prices was entering a wait-and-see period.
The ripple effects of the gold price decline were transmitting from trading desks to retail counters.
The daily gold prices of first-tier jewelry brands like Chow Tai Fook and Lao Fengxiang, while still significantly higher than the base gold price, had seen their upward momentum halted. When introducing products, salespeople subtly changed their pitch from “gold prices rise every day, buying early is more cost-effective” to “the current price is suitable, and we can apply for a discount on the processing fee for you.”
The wholesale market in Shenzhen’s Shuibei has always been a bellwether for the retail market. Quotations there were significantly lower than brand listed prices, with the material price for 999 pure gold hovering around 1,130 yuan per gram, attracting a large number of small jewelry store owners and online streamers to purchase.
Their goods were sold nationwide via live streaming under the model of “Shuibei Gold, priced per gram plus processing fee,” directly challenging the traditional brands’ high-premium model.
Consumer sentiment became more complex amid price fluctuations. Customers in gold shops looked more, asked in detail, but were less quick to place orders. They held their phones, comparing real-time gold prices and processing fees across different brands and channels. Many muttered, “Will it fall further?” Purchasing behavior shifted from “emotional consumption” and “panic buying” towards more calculated “material value comparison.”
The gold recycling business, however, became brisk as a result.
Those who bought gold bars and jewelry at previous highs began calculating the losses from selling at the current price. Recycling shop owners quoted prices based on the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s real-time base price minus a few yuan, receiving dozens of inquiry calls daily.
Financial institutions showed diverging views on gold. Some securities firms’ research reports suggested the correction was a technical adjustment to the previous rapid rise, with the long-term allocation logic unchanged. Quick commentaries from other institutions warned that market expectations might change, and gold’s trading range could shift lower. Wealth managers added more risk warnings when recommending Gold ETFs or gold accumulation plans to clients.
The order structure of jewelry processing factories reflected market temperature. Material for making heavy ancient-style gold bracelets decreased, while orders for making lightweight, fashion gold jewelry with a high proportion of processing fees remained relatively stable. Factory owners indicated that investors chased rallies and sold on declines, but young people’s “Three Golds” for weddings and birthday gifts still needed to be purchased, just with more emphasis on style rather than weight.
Online discussions about buying gold remained heated. On social platforms, some posted gold bracelets bought months ago at 1,300 yuan per gram, lamenting “buying at the peak”; others shared strategies for sourcing gold in Shuibei, calculating how to minimize processing costs. Gold, this ancient asset, was being measured and consumed by young people in entirely new ways in the digital age.
From Wall Street trading terminals to small county gold shops, the gold price chain was being reconnected. Millisecond fluctuations in international futures ultimately manifested as tiny changes in the numbers on jewelry price tags. In this process, central banks, hedge funds, gold shop owners, and couples preparing for marriage were all influenced by the same global pricing logic.
Holdings data for the world’s largest gold ETFs were released, showing consecutive net outflows. SPDR Gold Trust’s holdings dropped to a multi-month low in mid-December. The reduction by these funds, seen as barometers of market sentiment, was widely interpreted as institutional investors temporarily withdrawing or taking profits.
The supply and demand map for physical gold was also quietly being redrawn.
In India, a traditional gold-consuming giant, domestic gold prices did not fall in sync with the international market due to factors like the rupee exchange rate and import tariffs, which suppressed some import demand. Quarterly reports showed steady growth in jewelry manufacturing demand from East Asia, but it failed to provide strong upward momentum for prices.
Stock prices of domestic gold mining companies fluctuated accordingly.
Shares of A-share listed companies like Shandong Gold and Zhongjin Gold closed lower on corresponding trading days. Analysts from securities firms wrote in their commentaries that the gold price downtrend would directly impact companies’ main business revenue and gross profit, although the long-term value of their resource reserves remained unchanged.
The decline in gold prices even affected other related markets. In collectibles markets like gold and silver coins and ancient coins, prices for modern and contemporary gold and silver coins loosened because the value of their material base had shrunk. Traders in the stamp and coin market also asked more frequently about the day’s gold price for reference.
This change triggered by numbers after multiple decimal points constituted a complex economic cross-section. It concerned expectations for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and also the wedding budgets of youth in small towns; it was closely monitored by global macro fund managers and also weighed by aunties in their market baskets. Price is a sensitive nerve, affecting every link from national reserves to personal jewelry boxes.
When investment banks’ star analysts described the market with terms like “technical correction” and “support levels” in conference calls, customers in gold shops might only care about one question: How many yuan cheaper is it per gram today? These two perceptions existed in the same time and space, yet ran parallel with little intersection. The value of gold is constantly traded and defined within this vast cognitive gap.
Bank wealth managers faced a new dilemma. Many clients started the gold accumulation plans they heavily promoted earlier at high levels. Now that gold prices had fallen, should they advise clients to persist on the left side of the “smile curve” or switch to other assets? The managers’ recommendations directly influenced where clients’ next paycheck would flow.
A more controversial phenomenon was that, despite brand gold prices falling, the total cost (gold price plus processing fee) of some online channels selling on “low cost” sometimes quietly approached the listed prices of brand stores. Information asymmetry created new profit margins in the market, as well as new confusion. The effort consumers spent comparing prices itself became a cost.
So, as gold prices truly retreated from highs, the controversy before everyone was: Is this a rare “golden pit” or the beginning of a long downward channel? Who is closer to the truth: those who firmly believed in “gold’s eternity” during the rise, or those mocking “gold is a barbarous relic” during the decline? Your choice is to buy, sell, or continue waiting?