China's gold consumption slightly up in H1

BEIJING - China's gold consumption rose 0.31 percent to 541.22 metric tons in the first half of this year due to strong domestic demand for gold jewelry and industrial products.

In the first six months, gold jewelry sales went up 6.37 percent year-on-year to 351.84 tonnes, according to the China Gold Association.

Gold bullion sales plunged 15.65 percent year on year to 133.61 tons in January-June. Gold coins slumped 18 percent to 4.1 tons.

The association said the rise in jewelry sales was a result of supply-side structural reform in the industry, which now prefers products that are more personalized, better branded and with higher added-value.

Manufacturers are becoming more responsive to market demand with new Internet Plus sales patterns, it said.

In the first half, China's gold output went down 7.87 percent to 190.28 tons.

China has been the world's biggest gold producer for 11 years and the biggest gold consumer for five years. In 2017, the country's gold consumption rose 9.4 percent to 1,089 tons.