Gold buyers in China are getting younger, as a property market downturn, weakening stocks and currency and low bank deposit interest rates have left them with dwindling options to save for rainy days in a sputtering economy.
The trend underscores heightening uncertainty about growth prospects in the world’s second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 lockdowns as fast as consumers and job hunters had expected.
“The employment market has not been very good,” said Linda Liu, 26, who works for a pharmaceuticals company in Beijing, but worries about job stability. “Buying gold makes me feel better.”