Recently, the international gold price has experienced drastic fluctuations, dropping more than 20% since its peak in early March. Many mainland Chinese investors who purchased gold products at high prices have incurred losses.
According to a report from Time Weekly on May 29, the price of gold futures on the New York Commodity Exchange (COMEX) fell below $4400 per ounce on May 28, with an intraday drop exceeding 1%. Since the peak in early March, the price of gold has cumulatively fallen by more than 20%.
Investor Zhang Fang from Guangdong province told Time Weekly that he invested 180,000 yuan through a personal savings account at a bank to purchase gold at an average price of over 1100 yuan per gram at the end of last year. With the decline in gold prices, his account has suffered a loss of over 30,000 yuan.
Another investor, Li Qun, borrowed over 1 million yuan to buy gold, hoping to profit from the upward trend in the short term. However, after the price fell, despite adding to his position, he still holds over 1000 grams of gold, resulting in tens of thousands of yuan in losses.
Investor Liu Ming has been following and purchasing gold since the beginning of this year. The continuous decline in gold prices has prompted him to increase his holdings multiple times to reduce the average cost, but he still faces additional losses in the end.
The report also mentioned that some investors who borrowed to buy gold at high prices later faced price declines. Others who continued to wait after the drop in gold prices are bullish on the long-term support for gold. However, some investors believe that the short-term volatility is too high and are hesitant to chase the rise in prices.
Internationally, the price of gold has been on a downward trend recently. According to a report from Reuters on May 27, spot gold fell to a two-month low that day. The Wall Street Journal also reported on the same day that COMEX gold futures fell for the third consecutive trading day.
This volatility in gold prices has spread to the gold jewelry market in mainland China. Chinese media reported on May 27 that some brands have lowered the listed prices of 24K gold jewelry. Brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Lukfook Jewellery, and TSL are quoting around 1382 yuan per gram for 24K gold. Chow Sang Sang, Lao Feng Xiang, and Lao Miao Gold are priced at about 1380 yuan per gram, while the prices for China Gold and Caibai jewelry are around 1372 yuan and 1368 yuan per gram, respectively.
The fluctuation in gold prices has also impacted gold consumption in mainland China. According to a previous report by Xinjing Bao, the volatile gold prices this year have led to an increase in investment demand, with gold bars and gold ETFs being popular choices, while gold jewelry consumption has significantly decreased.
Citing data from the China Gold Association, the report stated that in the first quarter of 2026, the consumption of gold jewelry in mainland China dropped by 37.1% year-on-year, while the consumption of gold bars and coins increased by 46.4% to 202.062 tons. At the same time, the net increase in mainland China’s gold ETF holdings more than doubled year-on-year.
The high gold prices have also put pressure on downstream jewelry companies. Reports from Chinese media indicated that the number of stores operated by Lao Feng Xiang has been continuously decreasing, with both revenue and net profit decreasing year-on-year in the first quarter of this year.
(The names Liu Ming, Zhang Fang, and Li Qun are pseudonyms)