Remodeling gold jewelry gets popular in China amid surging gold prices

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Frustrated by sharply rising gold prices during the Spring Festival shopping rush, many cautious Chinese gold buyers are opting to redesign their old jewelry instead of purchasing expensive finished gold products.

Some gold jewelers in Kunming City, southwest China's Yunnan Province have reported a notable decrease in customer traffic during the Spring Festival holiday, traditionally the peak season for gold jewelry sales. 

The decline has come as a result of high prices of the precious metal, according to one of the jewelers.

"In the period around the Spring Festival holiday, the price of gold has increased by approximately 40 yuan (about 5.5 U.S. dollars) per gram. Customers' first reaction upon entering the store is that the gold prices are excessively high. So, the foot traffic has decreased by an estimated 40 to 50 percent," Gao Shunyan, a saleswoman, said.

Many staff members of gold retailers believe that consumers' wait-and-see attitude is fed by the uncertainty about where gold prices will go next.

Meanwhile, a trend of redesigning old gold jewelry and customizing new pieces has been emerging in China.

At a jewelry store located in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, five to six customers arrived with their old gold jewelry for redesign and customization as soon as the store opened in the morning. The three goldsmiths there were busy fulfilling their requests.   Without changing the weight, the processing fee for remodeling jewelry is only 10 to 15 yuan (roughly 1.4 to 2 U.S. dollars) per gram. Mr. Qing brought an old gold bracelet and also bought a gold bar to create a new bracelet for his wife. The goldsmith spent over two hours completing the task.

According to Qing, cost-effectiveness and personalization are the reasons why many consumers have chosen to redesign their old jewelry.

"The jewelry brands' products sold at stores are quite expensive. It seems that they all are sold at over 800 yuan (around 110 U.S. dollars) per gram now. I bought a gold bar for processing, which is relatively more cost-effective," Qing said.

Remodeling gold jewelry gets popular in China amid surging gold prices

The media center for the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Week opened in southern China's tech hub of Shenzhen on Wednesday, with a 15,000-square-meter facility designed to serve nearly 5,000 accredited journalists covering the event.

Inside the press center is an eye-catching art installation, symbolizing the Asia-Pacific economies joining hands and setting sail together toward a shared future.

The center houses a central public workspace with about 700 standard workstations for journalists covering the meeting week.

The facility features digital technology including China's first HarmonyOS-powered smart studio, paired with XR virtual production and 4K ultra-high-definition signal transmission. Intelligent editing tools are also available to help journalists with rapid video editing and multilingual production.

A dedicated "Home of Journalists" space presents intangible cultural heritage, interactive smart displays and a city photography exhibition, showing Shenzhen's development and vitality to media.

"To facilitate Chinese and international journalists covering the event, we have established a press center with full functions and imbued with a distinct sense of sci-tech and culture. We hope that our friends from Chinese and international media will take the media center as their home, together write compelling stories about Asia-Pacific cooperation and development, and feel for a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic picture of China through the window of Shenzhen," said Su Rongcai, head of the media center.

The center will host a series of official briefings and city tours during the week starting from November 14. The centerpiece is the two-day APEC Leaders' Meeting on November 18-19, which will bring together leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific economies.

2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Week media center opens in Shenzhen