With over 1,500 stores, this gold jewelry retailer is pursuing an "A+H" listing strategy.
In Chaoshan, when brides marry adorned head-to-toe in gold jewelry, it's less about "showing off wealth" and more about parents' most direct blessing—wishing for a lifetime of prosperity and riches. Guangdong Chj Industry Co.,Ltd., the gold and jewelry brand that emerged from Chaoshan, carries the distinctive marks of Chaoshan merchants.
Guangdong Chj Industry founder Liao Chuangbin dropped out of high school in his sophomore year to work as a "gold broker" with his father, traveling far and wide with gold bars in his pocket during his youth. However, he quickly realized that the subcontracting model only yielded minimal profit margins, so he resolutely transformed to establish the Guangdong Chj Industry brand, moving from behind the scenes to the forefront.
Today, Guangdong Chj Industry is planning to list in Hong Kong, moving toward "A+H" dual-platform operations. However, the path to Hong Kong listing is far from smooth. The company now faces intellectual property lawsuits from international luxury giants Bulgari and Richemont Group (parent company of Cartier); young consumers attracted by intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship and IP collaborations are also beginning to question the transparency of its "fixed-price" gold products.
As of September 23, 2025, Guangdong Chj Industry's A-share stock price closed at 15.43 yuan per share, with a market capitalization of 13.71 billion yuan.
01# Ninety Percent of Revenue from Jewelry Operating 1,542 Stores
On September 23, 2025, gold prices climbed to 1,098 yuan per gram. Even so, long queues still formed outside the Guangdong Chj Industry store at Shanghai Jiuguang Department Store—as the shop offered small discount coupons that could be stacked, many consumers took the opportunity to visit and purchase gold jewelry.
Amid consumer enthusiasm, Guangdong Chj Industry's revenue has been rising steadily in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, revenue grew from 4.364 billion yuan to 6.452 billion yuan, though net profit showed significant fluctuations, rising from 205 million yuan in 2022 to 330 million yuan in 2023, then falling back to 169 million yuan in 2024. Performance recovered in the first half of 2025, with revenue of 4.062 billion yuan and net profit of 333 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.2%.
The jewelry business is the company's absolute mainstay. In 2024, jewelry revenue accounted for 91.3% of total revenue, with fashion jewelry and classic gold jewelry nearly splitting equally at 45.6% and 45.2% respectively. In the first half of 2025, fashion jewelry's share further increased to 48.6%, while gold jewelry slightly decreased to 44.6%.
In store expansion strategy, Guangdong Chj Industry relies primarily on franchised stores. As of June 2025, franchised stores accounted for 86.7% of the company's 1,542 stores, while self-operated store revenue share decreased from 37.4% in 2022 to 27.3% in the first half of 2025.
This Hong Kong listing represents a crucial step in Guangdong Chj Industry's "going global" strategy. The company mentioned in its May 2025 announcement that H-share listing would help enhance its international brand image and strengthen connections with overseas capital markets.
In fact, as early as in the 2024 annual report, Liao Chuangbin mentioned R&D investments related to overseas business, including "overseas inventory management system implementation and independent development of overseas pricing systems to support multi-currency and multi-exchange rate operations."
However, judging from current deployment, Guangdong Chj Industry's overseas business remains in its early stages. In 2024, the company's overseas operating revenue was only 26.41 million yuan, accounting for less than 0.5% of total revenue, with only 4 overseas stores scattered across Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia.
In response, the company has established clear overseas expansion targets. The prospectus shows that the company plans to open 20 self-operated stores overseas by the end of 2028, and the team revealed that "the next phase will focus on deploying in Singapore's Central Business District," planning to achieve overseas business revenue accounting for over 10% within 3-5 years.
To capture markets both domestically and overseas, Guangdong Chj Industry has invested heavily in product creativity: not only launching intangible cultural heritage series like "Filigree Wind and Rain Bridge" and "Filigree Ruyi," but also high-gram-weight products like "Fanhua" and "Rui Gold Premium Diamonds." In 2025, it collaborated with multiple independent designers, launching new series including Filigree Ruyi, Imperial Celadon, and Forbidden City collaborations, continuously strengthening its "China-chic" positioning.
IP collaborations have also been prolific, securing licensing for 12 globally popular IPs including Kuromi, My Melody, and Pompompurin, with related SKUs exceeding 400. In 2024, Guangdong Chj Industry's IP portfolio ranked first among mainland jewelry enterprises.
Beyond the main brand, the company has also launched sub-brands Guangdong Chj Industry|Soufflé, CHJ·ZHEN, and lab-grown diamond brand C·vol.
Besides investing in design and IP, Guangdong Chj Industry has continued to strengthen marketing efforts to enhance brand recognition: signing actress Song Yi as spokesperson in 2024, having previously collaborated with actress Tang Yixin in 2021.
Online channels have also shown initial success, with the official Douyin flagship store accumulating 357,000 followers and 308,000 likes, while the Xiaohongshu account has 134,000 followers and 597,000 likes and favorites. On Douyin Mall, Guangdong Chj Industry's Sanrio gold pendants are well-received by consumers, with comments including "Guangdong Chj Industry is a major brand, and the Sanrio series particularly captures children's hearts" and "bought as a gift for my sister, very cute design."
Behind increased online investment, the company's sales expenses have remained relatively stable over the past three years. From 2022-2024, Guangdong Chj Industry's sales expenses first increased then decreased, rising from 774 million yuan in 2022 to 828 million yuan in 2023, then falling back to 762 million yuan in 2024, totaling 2.364 billion yuan over three years. Advertising and promotional expenses and their proportion also adjusted accordingly, standing at 138 million yuan, 161 million yuan, and 128 million yuan respectively for the same period, accounting for 17.8%, 19.4%, and 16.8% of sales expenses respectively.
02# Sued by International Brands Holding 35 Patents
Although Guangdong Chj Industry has invested heavily in creating numerous innovative designs, successfully attracting many young consumers, in the design field, core competitiveness always depends on original creative capability.
As it pursues Hong Kong listing, Guangdong Chj Industry has experienced multiple lawsuits in the intellectual property field, being sued by international luxury giants Bulgari and Richemont Group (parent company of Cartier).
According to Guangdong Chj Industry's 2025 interim report, in July 2024, Bulgari S.p.A. filed a lawsuit with Beijing Xicheng District Court over trademark and product design infringement disputes, requesting the court to order Guangdong Chj Industry and its subsidiaries Guangdong Chaohui Network Technology Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Chj Industry Jewelry Co., Ltd. to jointly compensate for economic losses totaling 5 million yuan.
The case was heard on February 19 and March 14, 2025, respectively, and no first-instance judgment has been rendered as of now.
More substantially impactful is Richemont International's lawsuit.
In September 2024, this luxury conglomerate owning brands like Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels filed a lawsuit over trademark and product design infringement disputes, requesting Suzhou Intermediate Court to order Guangdong Chj Industry Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Chj Industry Jewelry Co., Ltd. to jointly compensate for economic losses totaling 5 million yuan, with Guangdong Chaohui Network Technology Co., Ltd. bearing 3 million yuan in joint liability.
In June 2025, Suzhou Intermediate Court ruled to split the infringement dispute case for separate hearings: bracelet product disputes to be heard by Suzhou Intermediate Court, and necklace product disputes transferred to Shantou Longhu District Court. On July 25, Suzhou Intermediate Court rendered a first-instance judgment on the bracelet infringement case, ordering three Guangdong Chj Industry companies to jointly compensate Richemont International 1 million yuan in economic losses, with Guangdong Chaohui Network Technology Co., Ltd. bearing joint liability within 400,000 yuan, plus reasonable rights protection expenses.
Guangdong Chj Industry stated it filed an appeal with Jiangsu High Court on August 6, and the company estimates this case may result in liabilities of 700,000-1.3 million yuan.
The necklace product dispute case has not yet been heard, and the company believes the estimated liability range is 0-200,000 yuan.
Despite ongoing litigation, Guangdong Chj Industry has not stopped its R&D and intellectual property development. Currently, the company owns 54 trademarks and 35 patents domestically and internationally, with R&D investment growing continuously from 59.841 million yuan in 2022 to 68.092 million yuan in 2024.
03# Consumer Complaints Emerge Product Weight and Quality Become Focal Points
On one side facing lawsuits from international giants, consumer voices are also gradually emerging on the other side, focusing on weight transparency issues and product quality disputes.
One of the controversial focal points is the "fixed-price" gold sales method. Unlike per-gram pricing, "fixed-price" doesn't display specific weight but directly shows the total price. According to Guangdong News Channel reports, gold weight labeling at Guangdong Chj Industry stores lacks transparency, requiring label expansion to view specific weight.
Multiple Xiaohongshu users have reported similar issues. Some netizens said that when buying plain chains at Foshan Guangdong Chj Industry stores, staff verbally claimed "over three grams" when the actual weight was only 2 grams; other consumers reported "paying 1,600 yuan for less than 1 gram of gold."
According to Key Customer Research Institute Dean Zhou Ting, enterprises promote "fixed-price" gold jewelry with a clear purpose: to create more premium pricing, improve profit margins, highlight product design value, and enhance brand image.
Product quality has also become a key complaint focus. Xiaohongshu users have reported issues like "bracelet clasp breaking within a month" and "expensive necklace breaking multiple times."
Black Cat Complaint platform shows that as of September 23, 2025, Guangdong Chj Industry had accumulated 602 complaints, mainly concentrated on quality and after-sales service.
In April 2024, Zhejiang Provincial Market Supervision Administration released a notice on the 2024 Zhejiang provincial quality supervision sampling inspection of 83 product categories including precious metal jewelry.
In physical store sampling, a pure gold jewelry product produced by Guangdong Chj Industry Jewelry Co., Ltd. was found non-compliant for "gemstone variety identification."
04# "Chaoshan Father and Son" Selling Gold Building an IPO
As the brand continues to expand, the founder story of Guangdong Chj Industry has attracted increasing attention. Behind this jewelry enterprise from Chaoshan are typical Chaoshan merchant father and son—Liao Muzhi and Liao Chuangbin.
Born in 1972, Liao Chuangbin came from an ordinary family in Chaoyang, Shantou, Guangdong. In 1989, after completing only his freshman year of high school, he dropped out from a Chaoyang middle school to join his father in the gold jewelry wholesale business. He later admitted: "At that time in rural Chaoshan, eighteen or nineteen-year-olds who didn't go out to earn money would be looked down upon."
This father-son duo also caught good timing. Chaoyang had deep traditions in gold and silver craftsmanship, with strong demand for gold jewelry in the wedding market and family workshops everywhere. Father Liao had northeastern customer resources, his son had drive, and together they became "gold brokers"—not operating factories, just acting as intermediaries, earning margins by connecting supply and demand.
From 1992 to 1995, Liao Chuangbin frequently traveled between Shantou, Beijing, and Northeast China, carrying gold raw materials and a magnifying glass. Without professional testing equipment, he relied on touchstone comparisons to determine quality, distinguishing between 95%, 97%, or 99% pure gold.
However, starting in 1993, market dynamics changed. Panyu and Shenzhen saw the emergence of numerous Hong Kong and Taiwan-funded gold processing factories with more advanced technology and higher efficiency, gradually causing local Chaoshan workshops to lose competitiveness. Although the Liao father-son duo tried contracting processing workshops from Shantou Craft Group to improve craftsmanship, they still couldn't prevent continued profit decline.
The limitations of the subcontracting model made Liao Chuangbin realize the constraints: "Consumers didn't even know who made the products; we were left with nothing but profits." He was determined to transform into brand building. In 1996, "Guangdong Chj Industry" was officially established, with the brand name meaning "Chaoshan Pearl, Grand Development, Evergreen Foundation," focusing on K-gold and set jewelry, taking a differentiated approach.
Around 2000, the company launched tri-color gold products, breaking the monotonous white gold market pattern at the time. In January 2010, Guangdong Chj Industry listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, becoming the first fashion jewelry listed company on A-shares, with a current market value of approximately 13.5 billion yuan.
In May 2020, Liao Chuangbin officially took over as chairman, with Liao Muzhi retiring behind the scenes. Currently, Liao Chuangbin, Liao Muzhi, and his brother-in-law Lin Junping collectively hold approximately 31.67% of shares, forming the company's single largest shareholder group.
From Chaoshan's local "gold brokers" to A-share "K-gold king," and now to a globalizing brand pursuing Hong Kong listing, Guangdong Chj Industry's thirty years represent a microcosm of China's jewelry industry development. However, the path to Hong Kong is not smooth sailing—whether responding to international infringement disputes or rebuilding consumer trust, these are all thresholds that must be crossed in leaping from "regional leader" to "international brand." Can the "Chaoshan tycoons" carry the "K-gold king" to a successful Hong Kong listing story?
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