SHANGHAI: Chinese companies above a designated size reported a 12.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in retail sales of gold, silver and other jewellery to 247.2 billion yuan between January and September, a trade body says.

The growth rate, second only to the catering industry’s 18.7% during the same period, is far higher than the average growth of total retail sales, at 6.8%, across China, said Ye Zhibin, president of the Gems and Jewellery Trade Association of China during an international jewellery summit held in Shanghai earlier this month.

This indicates bright prospects for local and international brands in the huge Chinese market, he added.

“Against a global economic slowdown and turbulent international trade environment, China’s jewellery industry performed with stability, potential, resilience and stamina,” Ye said.

The jewellery industry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has also performed well over the past several years, said Cheung King Yau, chairman of the Hong Kong Jewellery and Jade Manufacturers Association.

Overall exports have recovered to the level seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, with the total value of precious jewellery exports reaching about 66.7 billion yuan in 2022, an 18% increase compared to 2019.

Meanwhile, its overall export value of jewellery from January to June this year was 39.4 billion yuan, an increase of 13.3% over the same period last year, Cheung said.

The excellent performance has also been reflected in international trade as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which ended earlier this month in Shanghai, became one of the driving factors, Ye said.

“Based on data from the past few years, China has maintained a continuous deficit in international trade in jewellery,” he added.

“It is worth noting that in recent years, the growth in Europe and the United States has significantly slowed down, while the Asean region has become more active.”

The total worth of gold, silver and jewellery products imported by China from the Asean region in 2022 was US$5.89bil, a y-o-y increase of 62.5%, while exports were worth US$1.53bil, a y-o-y increase of 90%, said Ye.

Boosted by the CIIE, countries such as Malaysia are actively promoting their jewellery products in the Chinese market. Malaysia is one of the major gold jewellery exporters in the world.

Ermin Siow, former president of the Malaysian Goldsmiths Association, said: “Our gold jewellery products are mainly exported to the Middle East and India.

“But we hope that we will have gold jewellery companies enter the Chinese market through the CIIE, adding fresh elements to the Chinese market as well as the world’s largest consumption market.”

In addition to the increase in sales, the Chinese domestic jewellery industry is actively participating in digital transformation, Ye said.

For example, the National Gems and Jewellery Testing Co has launched its first digital service model and certificate in the industry. “In the direction of transitioning to digitisation and intelligence, we still face many challenges,” Ye said.

“However, from the perspective of significantly improving the overall operational efficiency of the entire industry and promoting high-quality economic growth, this is still necessary.” — China Daily/ANN