Since the beginning of this year, international spot gold has accumulated gains of approximately 9%, while spot silver has risen by about 20%. Despite the surge in prices, consumption of gold jewelry, gold bars, and gold coins shows a distinct "polarization."
This divergence is directly reflected in consumption data. According to the China Gold Association, China's gold consumption in the first quarter was 303.292 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.41%. Within this, gold jewelry consumption was 84.620 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 37.10%; consumption of gold bars and coins was 202.062 tons, a year-on-year increase of 46.40%.
This trend has reached branded jewelry stores. It has been noted that since last year, the number of domestic branded gold stores has been continuously decreasing. "Except for a few companies achieving counter-trend expansion, most companies have seen a significantly larger contraction in their store networks compared to the previous year, with the industry overall showing a relatively consistent trend of channel contraction," stated the China Gems & Jewelry Trade Association.
It has been observed that many companies have seen a reduction in the number of franchise stores, while the number of company-owned stores has increased.
Currently, domestic gold prices have generally risen above 1,000 yuan per gram. With the increased cost of purchasing gold, jewelry enterprises have also been affected.
Performance within the industry has diverged among various brand companies: some have seen both revenue and net profit decline, while others have benefited from rising gold prices, leading to significant gross margin growth.
Among them, Lao Feng Xiang achieved operating revenue of 52.823 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 6.99%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.755 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 9.99%. In the first quarter of 2026, Lao Feng Xiang's performance continued its downturn, with operating revenue of 13.742 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.57%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 547 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.76%.
Chow Tai Seng's revenue also declined. The company's 2025 revenue was 8.815 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 36.54%, but net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 9.22% year-on-year to 1.103 billion yuan. "The revenue decline is mainly due to weak restocking demand from franchise channels against the backdrop of high gold prices. However, thanks to optimized product structure, the effect of the brand matrix, and improved gross margins brought by rising gold prices, the company achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.103 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.22%, demonstrating strong profit resilience," Chow Tai Seng stated.
Chow Sang Sang's turnover in 2025 rose 6% to HK$22.446 billion, with its gross margin also increasing by 4.3 percentage points to 32.6%. Chow Sang Sang attributed this firstly to rising gold prices leading to higher profits on the sale of inventory purchased at lower costs in the past, and secondly to a higher proportion of sales from higher-margin priced gold jewelry.
Compared to 2024, the most significant change for many branded gold stores in 2025 was an overall decline in store numbers, but with a structural shift: a substantial decrease in franchise stores and an increase in company-owned stores.
Looking at specific companies, against the backdrop of high gold prices, as of the end of 2025, Lao Feng Xiang had a total of 5,355 marketing outlets (including 18 overseas stores), a reduction of 483 for the full year. Within this, chain franchise stores decreased by 499 to 5,142, while the number of company-owned outlets actually increased.
Regarding Chow Tai Seng's store count, franchise stores decreased from 4,798 in 2024 to 4,353 in 2025, a reduction of 445 for the year.
Some branded gold stores did not differentiate between franchise and company-owned stores in their Hong Kong-listed annual reports, but their total store numbers also decreased. Among them, Chow Sang Sang's mainland China store count at the end of 2025 decreased by 115 compared to the end of 2024, to 727 stores. "Changes in franchise store numbers are the result of multiple factors, with rising gold prices being one of them," a Chow Tai Seng staff member stated. "For example, if sales fall short of expectations and products cannot be sold, (franchisees) may choose to close the store. Similarly, if gold prices rise rapidly, franchisees may already have enjoyed certain gains from inventory and may not invest heavily in sales. Furthermore, after gold prices rise, the cost for (franchisees) to further purchase wholesale inventory would also be higher."
Company-owned stores refer to outlets where the brand owns the goods and has retail pricing authority. Unlike the decline in franchise stores, it has been noted that many branded gold stores' regional subsidiaries and company-owned stores have become important tools for boosting regional dealer confidence, and their numbers increased last year.
For instance, in August 2025, Lao Feng Xiang Northeast Jewelry Co., Ltd. opened, successfully establishing 5 company-owned stores within the year. Additionally, Chow Tai Seng's number of company-owned stores increased from 343 in 2024 to 398 in 2025, an increase of 55 for the year. "In terms of sales service and store location selection, company-owned stores have significant advantages," an industry insider stated. From a cost perspective, if gold prices rise, franchisees might later choose not to replenish inventory continuously, but company-owned stores can continuously replenish stock to sustain sales.
Data from the World Gold Council shows that in 2025, China's gold jewelry demand was surpassed by gold bar and coin investment demand for the first time. China's gold jewelry consumption demand fell under pressure by 25% to 360.1 tons, while gold bar and coin demand grew strongly by 28% to 431.7 tons.
Although the weight of gold jewelry demand declined, the total annual consumer spending on gold jewelry in China by value reached 281.4 billion yuan, an increase of 8%, nearly matching the 2023 historical record of 281.8 billion yuan, highlighting consumers' sustained and growing interest in gold jewelry consumption. "In 2025, influenced by multiple overlapping factors including insufficient momentum in domestic demand growth, continuously rising gold prices repeatedly刷新ing historical highs, and the implementation of new tax policies on gold, domestic gold and jewelry consumption weakened, with market demand showing a trend of diversified development," Lao Feng Xiang mentioned in its annual report.
Amid industry changes, branded gold stores are also seeking ways to improve performance, with premiumization and empowering franchise retail being among the directions. For example, to penetrate高端 channels and consolidate and提升 market share, Lao Feng Xiang is gradually establishing regional subsidiaries.
Regarding empowering franchise retail, it was noted that in April, Chow Tai Seng increased its per-gram brand usage fee for weight-based gold, raising it from 12 yuan per gram to 24 yuan per gram. Chow Tai Seng stated that the core purpose of this fee increase is to加大 investment in retail empowerment for加盟商, accelerate the promotion of retail transformation within the franchise system, and that the adjusted fee standard remains at a relatively low level compared to同层级 brands. "The fees collected are primarily used for product sales promotion, such as providing store guidance to加盟商, mainly to re-empower the加盟商, not simply raising costs for加盟商 at the进货 end," the aforementioned Chow Tai Seng staff member stated.
Over the past year, under the influence of multiple factors including pressure on offline customer traffic and rising costs, leading gold retail enterprises have gradually shifted from pursuing规模扩张 to optimizing channel quality, and aim to achieve more stable operations by提升单店效益.
Simultaneously, various companies are also加大 the layout of their online business, using直播电商, private domain operations, and omni-channel integration to compensate for线下收缩, achieving rebalancing of channel structure and重塑 of growth momentum. Taking Chow Tai Seng as an example, its annual report shows that in 2025, the proportion of online omni-channel operating revenue to total revenue was 32.41%, an increase of 12.29 percentage points compared to 2024.
On the other hand, overseas market expansion by various brand jewelers continues to accelerate. Data from the China Gems & Jewelry Trade Association shows that as of December 31, 2025, Luk Fook Holdings' various brands had a total of 48 overseas stores, an increase of 20 from the end of 2024, a growth of 71.43%; Chow Tai Fook's overseas stores decreased from 75 at the end of the previous year to 69, but stated that international expansion is seen as the next step for growth, focusing on revitalizing major existing markets while actively expanding into new markets with high potential; after officially launching overseas expansion in 2024, Chow Sang Sang further深耕 the Southeast Asian market in 2025, increasing from 1 store at the end of the previous year to 10; Saturday福's overseas加盟店 increased from 4 at the end of the previous year to 8; in June and September 2025, Lao Pu and Lao Miao opened their first overseas stores in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively.
However, overall, China's jewelry industry remains in a trade deficit. In 2025, total exports were $50.638 billion, imports were $117.244 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $66.606 billion. "As export growth outpaces import growth, the scale of the trade deficit is gradually narrowing, and the industry's international competitiveness continues to提升," the China Gems & Jewelry Trade Association stated.
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