New gold rush: Youngsters flock to viral ‘beans’ amid uncertainty
By Lisa Visentin
Singapore: Traditionally a favoured haunt of the cashed-up older generations, China’s gold and jewellery shops have been ushering a distinctly younger customer through their doors in droves.
Millennial and Gen Z customers have been turning up to buy small gold “beans”. They are jumping on a viral bandwagon, with social media fuelling the buying trend, triggering something of a mini gold rush among young Chinese.
Gold beans have become a popular investment among younger generations of Chinese.Credit: Douyin
The beans, which weigh as little as one gram and cost about 600 yuan ($130), are seen as a safe investment for a younger generation peering into gloomier economic horizon.
The country’s export-driven economy has struggled to regain the pace of growth it enjoyed before the pandemic, an event which prompted the US to boost its own manufacturing to compete with China.
Signs of trouble abound, with the property market in crisis, the stockmarket sluggish, and youth unemployment hovering at 15 per cent. Enter the gold beans.
Shi Wu, a 23-year-old actress in Beijing, began her gold bean collection a month ago, and has purchased three beans so far, costing 1700 Yuan ($363) in total.
Gold beans for sale at a Luk Fook jewellery store in Shanghai, China.Credit: Bloomberg
“It was both fun and an investment. So I jumped on the bandwagon. Also, it seems there are not much other good options for investment today,” she said.
“Gold is stable and gold price will never go down too badly. They are not too expensive and I can afford it.”
A 30-year-old jeweller, who declined to give her name, has also jumped on the craze, but conceded she was losing interest in the investment.
“The desire for shopping often lingers around me when I work. But if I buy other things, the money will be gone forever,” she said.
“When a friend’s kid was having a birthday, I thought gold beans would be a good option. So I bought some both for myself and friend. Later I bought a little bit more but soon gave up.”
The price of gold has soared to record highs in April, surpassing $US2400 ($3754) an ounce, driven by demand from China’s central bank, and Chinese investors and consumers who see the precious metal as a safe-haven asset in volatile times.
Investing in gold bars has typically been the domain of China’s middle class, in particular among Chinese dama (middle-aged women), who collectively poured billions of yuan into bullion-buying spree more than a decade ago when gold prices dropped.
A customer checks out the display at a Luk Fook store in Shanghai.Credit: Bloomberg
The beans offer China’s youth a small slice of the action, though the latest trend has also been accompanied by reports of gold-related scams, including beans that are filled with non-precious metals such as zinc and copper.
Some banks have been quick to tap into the trend, among them China Merchants Bank Co, which introduced a line of gold beans in July 2023, Bloomberg reported last month.
But not everyone is sold on the beans.
“Instead of buying 1g gold beans each month, I buy one 10g gold bar each year. I know it’s not a big investment but they could be a betrothal gift when my son gets married,” said a 30-year-old man, shopping for gold in Beijing with his four-year-old son.
Like many Chinese in their 20s and 30s, he was downcast when reflecting on the turbulent past few years, as the country struggled to emerge from the economic quagmire of its harsh COVID lockdowns.
“I thought 2022 was the worst year in terms of economy but actually 2023 was worse. Lots of companies closed down. Now, I’ll be very satisfied with a not-that-highly-paid but stable job and my social security insurance covered,” he said.
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