Gold jewelry has hit a high of 1,300 yuan per gram, with a 22% discount (equivalent to 78% of the original price) offered during the holiday.

Recently, the domestic gold jewelry price in China has surged above 1,300 yuan per gram.

As of 11:40 on August 12, 2026, although the price of pure gold jewelry of many domestic Chinese brands has dropped slightly by about 7 yuan compared with August 11, the price of most gold jewelry has stabilized at 1324 yuan/gram to 1329 yuan/gram. On August 11, the price of pure gold jewelry of many domestic Chinese brands once rose by nearly 30 yuan from the previous day, and the price of most gold jewelry ranged between 1330 yuan/gram and 1336 yuan/gram.

Li Yang, senior gold investment analyst at Caibai Co., Ltd., said that the surge in domestic gold jewelry prices is mainly driven by the recent rise in international gold prices.

The recent rise in international gold prices is mainly affected by changes in the US macro environment. Gu Fengda, chief analyst at Guoxin Futures, said that one of the driving factors behind the short-term rapid rise of international gold prices is the cooling of the US interest rate hike expectations. The cooling signal of the US labor market is clear, the market's expectation of the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in September has fallen, and the US dollar index and US bond yields have also plunged at the same time, strongly pushing up the gold price from the valuation side.

01

7.8 Discount on Gold Jewelry for Festival Promotion

When the price of many domestic gold jewelry brands surged to 1330 yuan per gram, gold jewelry consumption still showed resilience. Even on a weekday, there were still crowds of consumers in front of the gold jewelry counters on the first floor of Beijing Caishikou Department Store (hereinafter referred to as "Caibai").

Caibai's main business covers gold and jewelry. Its "Caibai Jewelry" brand is a time-honored Chinese brand, a licensed retailer of China Gold Coin, a comprehensive member of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and one of the main destinations for Beijing residents to buy gold.

Li Yang said that although the relatively high price of gold jewelry may curb part of gold jewelry consumption, overall, gold jewelry consumption is more reflected in rigid demand such as self-reward and gifting, and short-term price fluctuations have relatively limited impact on the overall retail jewelry sales.

"Although the current gold price is several times higher than a few years ago, it has fallen compared with two months ago, and there is limited room for further decline, not to mention the possibility of future price increases. Therefore, it is the right time to buy now." Wang Siyuan (pseudonym), who is about to get married in the second half of 2026, came to Caibai to pick a gold ring for his girlfriend. He believes that gold jewelry is a rigid demand and has the function of preserving value.

There are also consumers who hesitate due to the high gold price. Chen Jing (pseudonym) is waiting for the gold jewelry price to drop below 1000 yuan per gram. She expects that the recent gold jewelry price will still fluctuate between about 1000 yuan/gram and 1300 yuan/gram, which is still on the high side, so she does not plan to buy for the time being.

In addition to Caibai, a large shopping mall in Beijing is holding Qixi Festival activities, where consumers can get discounts and earn shopping points at the same time. According to many personal shoppers, if consumers give their points to them, they can get a discount of over 20% off or even 22% off. This means that a product marked at 15,000 yuan can be two to three thousand yuan cheaper after the discount. According to observations by many personal shoppers, this activity has significantly boosted gold jewelry consumption. Even on a rainy weekday, there were still several consumers queuing up to enter the store to select products in front of an ancient gold jewelry brand in the mall. Many personal shoppers revealed that if you come on weekend afternoons, you may need to queue for 2 to 3 hours to enter the store.

In terms of investment gold bars and gold coins, Li Yang used one keyword: "wait-and-see". In 2025 and January and February 2026, the gold price kept hitting new highs. At that time, investors were generally optimistic about the market outlook, and there was a concentrated purchase of investment gold bars. However, as the recent macro environment has put certain pressure on the gold price, short-term uncertainty has increased, and some investors plan to make purchases after the situation gradually becomes clear.

Rows of people often sit on the steps in front of the investment gold bar counter of Caishikou Department Store, staring at the real-time price on the big screen, waiting for the right price to make a purchase.

The official mini-program of Caibai shows that as of 12:54 on August 12, 2026, its basic investment gold price is 955.3 yuan per gram. Previously, from the end of June to the beginning of August, the basic gold price was once lower than 900 yuan per gram.

Although long-term investors are bullish on gold, some gold bar investors have begun to adopt a phased, small-gram-weight purchase strategy.

Wang Min (pseudonym) plans to buy 30 to 50 grams. She thinks that although the current basic investment gold price is relatively higher than the level of over 800 yuan per gram, there will still be some returns if the price continues to rise to 1000 yuan per gram in the future. Qian Shoucheng (pseudonym) also plans to buy 50 grams this time. Previously, he bought dozens of grams respectively at the relatively low points of different stages of the basic investment gold price (when it rose above 1000 yuan/gram and fell to more than 800 yuan/gram).

02

What is the Future Trend of Gold Jewelry?

Previously, China's gold jewelry demand once dropped significantly. According to the "2026 Q2 and First Half of China Gold Market Review and Outlook" released by the World Gold Council at the end of July, China's gold jewelry purchase volume in the first half of 2026 fell by 30% year-on-year. Specifically, in the second quarter, China's gold jewelry demand was only 50 tons, down 28% year-on-year, which was the weakest Q2 performance since 2004. Low consumer confidence remains the key resistance. The high and volatile gold price has further curbed gold jewelry purchases. Compared with the first quarter, gold jewelry demand plunged 41% quarter-on-quarter, which was partly affected by seasonal factors.

It is worth noting that the report of the World Gold Council further shows that in terms of amount, gold jewelry consumption expenditure in the second quarter remained relatively resilient, reaching 49.6 billion yuan, down only 7% year-on-year, and 10% higher than the 10-year average of 44.9 billion yuan. This trend ran through the whole first half of the year: although consumers turned to lightweight products due to cost considerations, their expenditure on gold jewelry did not decrease - the total gold jewelry consumption in the Chinese market in the first half of the year reached 141.9 billion yuan, up 2% year-on-year, which was the second strongest first half level on record.

Looking ahead, the report of the World Gold Council predicts that China's gold jewelry demand in the second half of the year is expected to get seasonal support, including factors such as wedding gold jewelry demand and holiday consumption. However, the pace of demand recovery will still largely depend on the trend of gold prices and consumer confidence. High gold prices may continue to put pressure on the demand measured by tonnage, but the demand for lightweight, innovative and high value-added products remains relatively stable.

In this context, Li Yang believes that with the continuous iteration and development of product technology, and the continuous emergence of high-craft products such as enamel hard gold and ancient gold, the consumption demand of the post-90s and post-00s generations has increased, and he remains optimistic about the future consumption demand of gold jewelry.

In terms of investment demand, the World Gold Council predicts that China's gold investment demand in the second half of 2026 will remain relatively strong, but phased gold price fluctuations may lead to short-term volatility in gold purchase volume. High geopolitical risks, low yield of domestic government bonds in China, and the demand to hedge potential fluctuations in the financial market will continue to support the long-term strategic allocation demand for gold.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Caixin Magazine", written by Gu Xinyu, edited by Zhang Wei, and published with authorization from 36Kr.