Opening market will boost China's gold industry: Gold Summit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 26, 2004

Opening market will boost China's gold industry: Gold Summit

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The opening up of the gold market, initiated with the official opening of a gold exchange in Shanghai on October 30, 2003, will boost China's gold industry, according to officials and experts at the 2004 China Gold Summit on Wednesday.

The opening of the market made it possible for individual citizens to invest in the gold sector and would encourage enterprises to develop new gold products, said Cheng Fumin, head of China Gold Association, at the summit held in southern China's boomtown of Shenzhen.

Gold investment would be a trend in the future gold consumption, Cheng acknowledged.

According to the association, China's gold output reached a record 200.598 tons in last year, while in 1945, the country's output was 4.5 tons, and reached 100 tons in 1995.

However, figures show the per capita consumption of gold of the people in China is only 0.16 grams, much lower than the world's average which is 0.7 grams.

Gold jewelry is the most promising sector in the gold industry. About 250 tons of gold was used to make jewelry in China in each of the recent years, and the number was expected to soar to 500 tons in three to five years, said Shi Hongyue, deputy secretary general of the China Gem Association.

Since the early 1990s, the Chinese gold industry has undergone a huge change. China canceled the policy of controlling the buying and selling prices of gold in April 2001, and opened its first gold exchange center in Shanghai in 2003.

China now boasts 1,200 gold enterprises, most of which are small-sized. It is crucial for them to unite and work in cooperation to achieve a rapid development, noted experts.

Approximately 100 participants at the summit signed a "2004 China Gold Declaration", which promised to improve gold product quality and services.

Meanwhile, a contest of gold jewelry was held in the city, which collected 351 gold items vying for the best design. A student from the Shanghai Yangpu Vocational School won the top prize.

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