Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Niu Honglin with Steve and Guo Yan.
Walk into a shopping mall today and you might notice something strange.
Traditional gold jewelry counters are quieter, while online livestream rooms featuring the same brands are exploding with millions of viewers.
As young Chinese consumers turn gold into fashion, investment and entertainment all at once, brands are quickly and quietly reinvent themselves, from coupons on e-commerce platforms to NBA-themed gold drops.
The gold rush is back, and its drivers are entirely new.
Did you buy some gold this year?
Let's talk about it.
And in early December, While much of the world prepares for winter, Hainan opens its shores to one of the fastest-rising film festivals in Asia.
Backed by China's free trade ambitions and designed as a platform for international collaboration, the festival now attracts record submissions, world premieres and industry delegations.
This year's edition, from its avatar china premiere to its ai film season and the thai pavilion, signals not just artistic ambition but heinan's emergence as a cultural and economic connector into the pacific.
Today, on roundtable, we'll look back at the highlights of this year's movie festival that's just concluded in hainan.
But now Gold has always held a quiet, ancient glow something passed down, gifted at weddings, kept safe for rainy days.
But today, that glow has changed color.
It's brighter, lighter, younger.
Instead of living in velvet boxes, gold now dances in live streams, flashes across social media feeds and sits casually on collarbones and backpack zippers.
The precious metal hasn't lost its weight, but the meaning young people attach to it has certainly transformed here in the Chinese market.
So, when it comes to gold, we definitely still especially for people here in China we have a not stereotype, but something that's remembered by two
Well, something that we remembered, but that are the kind of connotation that our parents give to gold.
Well, for decades, gold jewelry in China had a stereotype.
I don't think it's a kind of stereotype.
I think it's some mentality or traditional mentality.
It was for parents, elders or weddings.
It wasn't fashionable.
It was traditional.
And for parents, gold was seen as for parents like my parents.
Gold was seen as a practical household asset, something older generations bought to store value and pass down.
And parents often purchase gold as a long-term family investment rather than as a fashion.
Yeah, but that is changing these days.
Well, first of all, I want to say this.
When I first moved to China and I went to the shopping malls to have a look around, I noticed a lot of gold stores.
And that's when I knew I didn't know why, but I knew that gold played some sort of important role in Chinese culture.
And I guess we just learned a little bit about that, because For parents it was a long-term investment.
And I guess, going back even further, you know, for elders or historically speaking, maybe it was even more important.
Would that be fair to say?
In a way because, for instance, a lot of people, when they're getting married, one of the traditions that some people hold is that they would need three things that are gold given to them as a wedding present, a gift from especially, the brides.
Some brides would expect to have the three things that are made of gold given to them by their in-laws.
It's kind of a tradition.
Yeah, this is a wedding.
This is a very important thing for a Chinese wedding.
So important in the culture.
And that... gives gold a special place.
It's pricey.
It's something that the elder generation enjoys.
It's not something that used to be seen as fashionable and pretty and young enough for the younger consumers.
But what's interesting in terms of what's happening now is that there's kind of a combination of the two things going on.
So let's look at the numbers first.
This is from the World Gold Council.
62% of Chinese consumers aged 18 to 24 own some sort of gold jewelry in the year 2025.
Compared to the year 2019, that number was only 37%.
So you see an increase there.
On social media, young people.
They're not just observing gold price changes, but they're now active participants in the market.
They're buying gold now.
They're not seeing it as a major life event.
It's just a thing now.
It's become much more casual, the purchase itself.
Kind of like the way people buy their blind boxes, I assume, in terms of how casual that is.
Some of the posts.
Here's what some people are saying.
How to get a nice little gold accessory that only costs about 100 yuan, $14.
So that would be advice on how to do it.
And another one said I'd like to share with you guys my favorite gold jewelry, and they're all super affordable.
So from those two example posts you can see that the attitude is very casual about the gold itself and the purchases are not seen as anything that's life-changing per se.
I'm curious because before our show I had a conversation with Guo Yan and she shared that she enjoys gold.
But yeah, because the reason I'm talking about this is that previously, or in, let's say, 10 years ago or 20 years ago, young people would not want their parents to buy them a gold necklace, for example.
They do not feel it as something fashionable.
But is that changing?
Is that changing happening because of we're having better style in the gold, or better design, more fashionable design in the gold accessories?
Or is it because that at a certain point in life, you started to be able to be sophisticated enough to appreciate gold?
Or, for some people, maybe some people would appreciate pearl a bit more, but that is another day's topic.
What i'm talking about is when did you start loving gold and why?
Well, perhaps because i'm not young anymore.
As I grow mature, I found that I don't know.
I never think about why I became so fascinated with gold.
But you just do.
I just do.
And I think the design of the gold ornaments, like some gold accessories the bracelets, the rings have become more, I think, more fashionable.
The design is getting better.
And because many gold companies try to appeal to the younger generation in China by improving their designs for the young people to make more adorable.
The offline stores, the number of offline stores are shrinking.
I said that when I first moved here, I saw a lot of gold shops changing In the shopping malls, but now those numbers are reducing.
One of the major Leading jewelry brands here in China, chow typhoon.
Am I saying that correctly, right?
They closed 896 stores in China in 2025.
That particular brand.
That's the first store that I saw after I moved and that shop has their displays of Like it's for royalty.
These are not your basic like gold bracelets or like a watch or a pair of earrings.
These are something that you would see.
A huge gold tiara.
Yeah.
Or like necklaces.
That are so heavy that it could break your neck.
They look like they weigh about 10 kilograms.
I mean, these are really, really extravagant pieces.
And that's why I said I knew there was some sort of importance, culturally speaking.
Anyway, that brand, it's one of the leading brands here in the country for jewelry.
They've closed almost 1,000 stores.
Another well-known golden jewelry brand is...
They saw their sales per shops fall about 33% in the last five years.
But it's not because gold isn't popular.
And this is the interesting thing.
It's mostly because young people aren't visiting gold shops to buy their jewelry anymore.
Everything now is online and it's done through live streamings.
Yeah, many young people are starting to purchase gold accessories like bracelets and necklaces on the internet.
And they would turn to these online platforms.
And live stream shopping is now a main battlefield for these gold shops.
By early 2025, at least five gold brand live stream rooms crossed 100 million yuan or 14 million US dollars.
GMV grows merchandise value in a single month.
According to Shindou, a Douyin data analysis tool cited by some news agency in 2025.
And Chou Sang Sang, one of the brands I like most, recorded 30 million yuan, or 42 million US dollars, in just one live stream session.
And this is also from an official source.
And the major online shopping platforms are also stimulating the frenzy.
Taobao offered coupons for gold products.
And JD.com offered 8% discounts for this product.
It's an interesting kind of difference because if you look at the buyers, like the offline buyers, the buyers that go to the shops, and then the online buyers, they're very, very different.
The offline buyers.
When they go to a store, a jewelry store, to a shopping mall, a gold store there, They go there with intent right.
They go there with something on their mind.
It's a planned purchase.
They want to try on the items.
They want to put on the 10 kilogram necklace for royalty and maybe take some pictures.
But the idea is.
They plan that trip there.
But for live stream buyers, it's very, very different.
It's like buying a pack of gum at the supermarket when you're checking out your groceries.
It's impulse driven.
It's mood driven.
It can be too.
It's community driven.
People are posting about these purchases on their social.
The discounts help out with the motivation to buy.
And it's just a different style of purchasing.
Again, it's not that gold's not popular.
It's just the way it's popular is different now.
And one very important factor we need to consider is that the products are also different.
They are reinventing their products.
Not only the traditional beautiful accessory but kind of heavy and conservative, kind of pricey especially in today's gold price kind of product.
But there are some other very trendy and the kind of product that would very precisely meet the need of the young consumers exactly.
And the many gold brands um, i think they ditch this.
They only designed this heavy necklace, like steve has said that, the heavy neck.
They designed some light products that are more appealing to the younger generation and they are cheaper.
The fact is some of the products are very delicate, with very beautiful design and at the same time not that expensive anymore.
Yeah, low gram, right?
Yeah, low gram.
Yeah, there's an example of one product that has 0.2 grams of micro gold.
It's a note.
And they collaborated with a Chinese animation company, which is kind of a cool thing that we're seeing in the market too, these collaborations that are going on.
Um, and it was priced that.
That particular product was priced at 520 yuan, that's about 73 dollars.
So expensive yes, but not out of the price rate, not astronomical, right not to the point where you think i'm gonna have to save for 10 years to buy this type of thing.
You combine that with the collaboration and the IP, you get a cool young, fresh-looking product where the gold looks fantastic and young people are into it.
Yeah, and some Chinese gold brands are turning traditional jewelry into pop culture collectibles, heavily using IP collaborations to attract young anime and gaming fans.
A standout example is the Lao Feng Xiang and Gang Dam.
A major early spark came from Lao Feng Xiang, which is one of the most popular, one of the most famous gold brands in China.
The Lao Fengjiang's collaboration with the NME Gundam, which featured a pure gold collectible priced at 880000 yuan, or over 120000 US dollars.
Despite the high price, devoted fans still bought it, revealing the strong pending power of NME communications in the gold market, which is really
You know, I think it's the power of pop culture.
Yeah, that's the upper end of prices.
You know, $123,000, not cheap, 880,000 yuan.
That's on the upper end, but you can find it.
The other example I give just very affordable pieces too.
Yes, and the affordable pieces are also appreciated not only by the consumer him or herself, but also their friends.
They have even bought the kind of gold stickers that you can stick it on the back of your cell phone.
And, according to one consumer, that one piece of sticker that she got from an online live streaming platform with only 10 yuan like Steve has mentioned as a kind of a blind box kind of purchasing got appreciated and asked for for 10 times that one day.
So young people are really appreciating gold.
And of course, there's the factor of the gold brands doing a better job in inventing these new products.
There's the fact that they've made their product to being able to even give or provide emotional value to the young consumers.
100 yeah, i mean there's the investment logic.
Right about 41, they did a survey and they found that 41 said that they see it as, pardon me, what they call saving style consumption.
They see it as not a waste of money but a potential investment.
Yep, they got the.
So that's one aspect.
Then they've got the emotional value too.
42 said that they saw gold purchases or products as shiny and fun and attractive and they provided some sort of instant visual pleasure and a mood boost.
And I think, if you put those together with the historical influence in China because these are kids that grew up with their parents and their grandparents around, they've probably seen gold products in the house and they've heard the stories and they know the history.
So it's a very attractive fun, affordable way to get your fingers, to get your paws on some gold.
Yes, and now we see a lot of young consumers are enjoying gold.
So, for experienced buyer goya, do you have any tips that you want to give to those newcomers in the market?
Yes, they're not buying the kind of relatively more expensive or the ones that they can save as a family heirloom for their next generation.
But still, it's gold.
Anything to watch out for when they are making the purchase?
Well, although I like gold products, I don't think I'm mature enough to give any advice for purchasing gold products, because I think any investment is risky.
So you have to be cautious for any investment.
If you think this is an investment, you have to be cautious.
It's a different story and i think i can offer an advice from economic perspective.
When i used to, i used to cover stories on china's economy and i spoke with some economies from the west and they were so you know, upset about this.
They couldn't understand why people, particularly from china and india and some southeast asian countries, are so keen to purchasing gold products.
And they say that they firmly they used to firmly believe that the gold of the gold will be replaced by another precious metal, because gold is in the I mean in Western economics, gold is just a commodity.
And the value of the commodity is determined by supply and demand.
So gold.
In such case, the gold should one day be replaced by another precious metal.
But the fact in China, the reality in China and India is quite the opposite.
The value is so strong.
It's supported by some psychological factors because Chinese people love gold.
And the gold is hardly to be replaced by other metal is because gold shines and this bling bling effect of gold and makes people happy, makes people, you know, uh feel that they, they will become wealthy by wearing gold in my grandma's generation, and in that case we know why.
Now, more and more young consumers are getting into the love of gold as well, and they love it in a different way.
So if you haven't purchased your goat just yet, maybe go Browse in a live stream studio and maybe you will find your gold product.
You're listening to Roundtable coming up next.
All eyes on Hainan International Film Festival.
Don't go away.
Looking for passion?
How about fiery debate?
Want to hear about current events in China from different perspectives?
Then tune in to Roundtable where East meets West and understanding is the goal.
It's Roundtable with me, Niu Henlin, Steve Hatherly and Guo Yan.
The Hainan International Film Festival is held between December the 3rd and 9th set in the tropical paradise of Hainan, which is an island in the southern part of the country.
And now we see a lot of global filmmakers, industry professionals, audiences alike enjoying the opportunity to know more about movies and appreciate more about movies.
So anything that we must know about the festival?
Yeah, this goes back to 2018, as a matter of fact, when it was held for the very first time and it was included in the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
And it was a big deal because they saw it as an important measure to help promote the opening up of the region and also an important tool for cultural exchange.
So they just finished up.
The 7th Official Hainan Island International Film Festival happened from the 3rd to the 9th.
And the theme this year was co-hosted by CMG, China Media Group and the Hainan Provincial Government.
And the film festival brought together global filmmakers and, of course, critics and people who love movies.
Love to watch movies under that theme of From Oceans to the Infinite.
Ooh, romantic.
What are some highlights?
Well, one of the major draws of the festival is the December 8th China premiere of the Avatar Fire and Ash, the latest installment of the Avatar blockbuster franchise.
Why did you make that sound?
Which is very exciting.
Because I want to watch that.
Yeah, I want to watch that movie.
James Cameron film, right?
Yeah, it's one of the most.
Famous directors in the world, lead actress Zoe Saldana, and Chinese dubbing stars, including Zhang Ziyi, a superstar in the movie sector in China, and Huang Xuan, Deng Chao and Sun Li.
Deng Chao and Sun Li are very famous.
Famous star couples in China had a dialogue before the Chinese premiere of the much anticipated sci-fi epic.
Yeah, another big kind of standout is the Golden Coconut Awards.
That's the kind of the core of the competition.
And they're looking for excellence in three different categories.
If you were interested in winning a Golden Coconut,
Feature films, documentaries, and short films.
And the submissions reached a record of 4,564 entries from 119 countries and regions.
There were nearly 800 feature films, 400 documentaries, and 3,000 shorts.
It was a lot of submissions this time around. which is really great to see.
And it shows its testament to the popularity of the festival.
Yes.
And because this year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Thailand diplomatic relations, we also have a Thailand pavilion at the festival.
So people would enjoy movies, and major Thai films and television companies have also come to the pavilion to show local viewers and attendees the kind of the kind of appetite and the way that thailand's film culture promoting their industry as well yeah, really cool.
Um, this was also kind of a standout uh thing.
They had an ai film section, of course, and it yeah right and it debuted uh there and it included technology salons and ai generated film showcases and international collaborations And it was pretty significant timing because it coincided with two major milestones.
One, the 130th anniversary of cinema.
We talked about that on Roundtable.
And also the establishment of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
So that was a kind of a fun, exciting thing for people who were there.
Speaking of the Free Trade Port, I will go to a business trip in a few days to cover stories about some special events customs operations on this free trade port.
I think this film festival is just one of the key elements to signify that the Hainan Island becomes more open.
More than that.
Yes, more than that.
Because we see that this year the Chinese film market Not this year, these past two or three years it's booming.
It's definitely booming in the sense that more and more great movies are in the cinema for us to enjoy.
It's also booming in the sense that we still have a huge appetite for enjoying a movie in the theater, not only on live on stream platforms, not only at home.
In the couch, having a snack, that's very nice too.
But in the cinema, the experience is different and Chinese people are still enjoying it.
100%.
And I think, internationally speaking, people who are not from China are aware of Shanghai and Shenzhen and Beijing and the biggest cities in the country.
But I think Hainan might be a little bit of a hidden secret.
It's this beautiful island south and the waters are this beautiful crystal blue and there's palm trees.
It's a stunning place.
But, internationally speaking, I think having a festival like this helps to put Hainan on the map for a lot of people, because you've got all the filmmakers and the celebrities and the tourists who are visiting there.
They're going to leave, they're going to go back and talk about how great Hainan is and you'll get more people interested in coming in the future.
This year on roundtable we covered many international as well as national film festivals.
On these festivals you see people interacting with each other, making friends, talking about the state-of-the-art technologies they use in the film industry and also some cool new ideas about how to make a better experience for the audience because, at the end of the day, it is the audience that everybody is trying to please.
You want to make sure that when they buy the ticket, they got it worth, worthwhile, worth the price.
And that is why, on all of these film festivals we talked about, there's not only the seminars, the premieres and the screening of different films, but also a lot of different types of festivals, different types of activities, and it's full of creativity for people to enjoy.
So we look forward to a better next year for some cool and good movie festivals for us to enjoy.
And that brings us to the end of today's Roundtable.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's topics.
Leave us a comment or send us an email to roundtablepodcast at qq.com.
I'm Niu Henlin with Steve and Guo Yan.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll see you next time.
