Monday, May 5, 2008

World Gold Council K-Gold Project in China

Interesting article about the interaction between the World Gold Council and China. Describes the K-Gold project which is helping bring modern designs and techniques to China.

World Gold Council states: China’s K-gold project development is the leader in the Far East

China Gold News, April 29, 2008

Reporter: Li Shen

Translated from Chinese by China Gold News Blog


On April 15, The World Gold Council at Beijing’s 798 Arts Center unveiled the 2008 K-Gold 18K gold jewelry kicking off efforts by China to promote the 2008 K-Gold. After the presentation, World Gold Council Far East Managing Director Albert Cheng (Zheng Lianghao) accepted a China Gold News reporters questions stating "The K-Gold program has brought about great results for China. China’s K-Gold project development in the Far East is without peer. It is greater than Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and India among other countries.” In 2003, the World Gold Council approved the K-Gold 18K gold jewelry project and a representative of Italy’s highest quality line of products, Gold Expressions, came to China in order to bring new pioneering new ideas and techniques to the Chinese Gold Industry. As a result, the Chinese gold jewelry industry has shown many positive and progressive developments. According to the World Gold Council statistics, in 2007, China’s gold jewelry demand jumped to the second place among all countries at 302.2 tons, passing the US and second only to India. In addition, China has received the most attention among the top five countries. Albert Cheng states, within the five years of the K-Gold program, China’s gold jewelry has made a great leap forward in development. This includes the use of chemical catalysts, the promotion of Chinese gold jewelry become more stylish, and modernization all of which have accelerated China’s gold jewelry industries changes and satisfying the array of customer demands. This promotion of China’s 18K gold market has experienced comparatively rapid growth. The market share of 18K gold jewelry in China’s gold jewelry market has been growing as shown below


Year

Market Share %

2003

5%

2004

11%

2005

15%

2006 & 2007

18%


In the development of China’s gold jewelry market, 18K K-Gold jewelry has also achieved its own organic development. In the five years since 2003, the K-Gold project industry designers have also adapted more fashionable techniques helping lead to the wave of consumers buying K-Gold jewelry. However, following the increasingly wide spread of K-Gold, consumers' demands have become more complex and the 18K gold industry has begun to face more challenges. About this, Mr. Cheng states, that as the number of customers increases, promotion strategies must be adjusted understanding true customer demand and customer trends in the marketplace. Moreover, the World Gold Council will continue to promote the link up between the Chinese and Italian businesses as well as incorporating China’s rich culture into the K-gold project implementation. Mr. Cheng emphasizes that the “Sinification” of the K-Gold project does not mean that 18-K jewelry must be completely modified for local cultural tastes. “This will cause K-Gold to go to one extreme. K-Gold will also become an international product and will represent the tide of international fashion. In the future, it will emphasize a fusion of the two.”


This year’s Beijing Olympics will provide a positive impetus for the development of all of China’s industries. Vice Chairman Cheng concludes, “Beijing is not only China’s capitol but a center of business and culture. From this excellent foundation, we can see lifestyle and fashion consumers. We hope that K-Gold along with the 2008 Olympics will together become the pride of China.”


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