Z世代掀起“购金热” 成为黄金消费主力军

今年以来，国际金价持续攀升，国内也掀起了“购金热”。调查发现，Z世代（1995年到2009年出生的一代人）成为了黄金消费的主力军。专家认为，金条和金饰的消费群体将会日趋年轻化。

Ye Huiling, a 25-year-old middle school teacher in Shenyang, Liaoning province, has been purchasing gold products for the last three years.

来自辽宁沈阳的25岁的中学老师叶慧玲（音译）过去三年一直在购买黄金产品。

Starting with gold jewelry such as rings and bracelets, her interest switched to gold bars last year.

一开始她购买戒指和手镯等黄金首饰，去年她的兴趣转移到了金条上。

"I bought the first gold bar in June when the gold price was 383 yuan ($54.2) per gram. The price soon jumped to 425 yuan at the beginning of this year, which means I have seen the investment return approaching 11 percent in six months," she said.

她说：“去年6月我买了第一根金条，当时的金价是每克383元。今年年初金价迅速涨到了425元，也就是说6个月内的投资回报率就将近11%。”

"I always prefer products that can maintain and increase their value over time. This is the major reason why I buy gold jewelry and bars. But the successful first attempt last year will prompt me to direct more of my savings to gold bars," said Ye.

叶慧玲说：“我总是更喜欢更能保值增值的产品。这是我购买金饰和金条的主要原因。但是去年的首次成功尝试会促使我将更多存款用于购买金条。”

Wang Nianwei, a 32-year-old marketing specialist at an advertising agency in Shanghai, has been investing in gold for over five years. Allocation to gold-based exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, is important to her investment portfolio, as it is the only asset that has churned out positive returns so far this year.

上海一家广告公司的32岁的营销专员王念薇（音译）投资黄金已有五年多的时间。黄金交易所买卖基金的配置对于她的投资组合很重要，因为这是今年到目前为止唯一回报率为正的资产。

"All the other wealth management products I have chosen are reporting losses, while the gold ETF has been quite bullish. My only regret is that I have not invested enough in it," she said.

她说：“我选择的所有其他理财产品都亏损了，而黄金交易所买卖基金一直都比较坚挺。我只后悔自己没有多投一些。”

Whether it is purchasing gold accessories or investing in precious metal, the younger Chinese generation is showing an increased interest in gold, which seems to be a more conventional investment category.

无论是购买金饰还是投资金条，中国年轻一代表现出对黄金日益浓厚的兴趣，而黄金看上去一直是比较传统的投资类别。

According to a report released by the LeadLeo Research Institute in mid-March, 55 percent of consumers frequenting gold shops on the Chinese mainland are those aged 25 to 34. Consumers aged 35 to 44 make up the second-largest group, accounting for 36 percent of gold store shoppers.

根据头豹研究院3月中旬发布的报告，经常光顾中国大陆黄金门店的消费者有55%年龄在25岁到34岁之间。35岁到44岁的消费者是黄金的第二大消费群体，占了黄金门店消费者的36%。

Experts from the China Gold Association said that Generation Z — those born between 1995 and 2009 — will become the majority of gold consumers. The consumption group of gold bars and jewelry is becoming increasingly younger, they said.

中国黄金协会的专家指出，Z时代（1995年到2009年出生的一代人）将成为黄金消费的主力军。他们指出，金条和金饰的消费群体将会日趋年轻化。

Leading gold accessory retailers are adding more designs that cater to the younger generation's preferences. In March, Chow Tai Fook rolled out products themed under the Japanese comic character Ultraman. Century-old brand Lao Feng Xiang rolled out authorized Disney-themed products as early as 2017.

黄金首饰零售巨头正在推出更多迎合年轻一代消费者喜好的设计。今年三月，周大福推出了以日本卡通人物奥特曼为主题的产品。百年品牌老凤祥早在2017年就推出了迪士尼授权的主题产品。

The younger generation's interest in gold is in line with the overall shopping spree of the precious metal over the past few months. While global consumption in gold jewelry remained flat at a total of 478 metric tons in the first quarter, Chinese consumers purchased a total of 198 tons of gold jewelry during the same period, the highest since 2015, according to Wang Lixin, regional CEO of the World Gold Council (China).

年轻一代对黄金的热情与过去几个月的购金热是一致的。据世界黄金协会中国区首席执行官王立新介绍，尽管一季度全球金饰消费量为478公吨，与往年持平，但是中国消费者在一季度总共购买了198吨金饰，这是自2015年以来的最高水平。

The relatively bullish performance of gold in the capital market is another major reason for the "gold rush". London spot gold hit a record high of $2,079.37 per ounce on May 4, 14 percent higher than the price at the beginning of this year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has climbed 7 percent during the same period.

黄金在资本市场上相对坚挺的行情是“黄金热”的另一个主要原因。伦敦现货黄金价格在5月4日达到了每盎司2079.37美元的历史最高点，比今年年初价格高出了14%。上证综合指数在同期上涨了7%。

China's central bank is also increasing its exposure to gold. Data from WGC showed that the gold reserve held by the People's Bank of China came in at 66.76 million ounces at the end of April, recording an increase for the sixth consecutive month.

中国央行也在增持黄金。世界黄金协会的数据显示，中国人民银行4月末的黄金储备量为6676万盎司，这是央行黄金储备连续第6个月增加。

As explained by Zhao Xiangbin, chief strategist at Beijing Gold and Forex Fortune Investment Management, there are several elements to support the gold price.

北京金砖汇通投资管理有限公司的首席策略分析师赵相宾认为，有几个因素推动了金价上涨。

The possibility of an economic recession in Europe and the United States, untamed high-flying inflation in these markets and the prolonged geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine have already pushed up demand for gold to hedge risks, he said.

他指出，欧洲和美国可能发生的经济衰退，欧美市场通货膨胀的飙升，以及俄罗斯和乌克兰之间持久的地缘政治冲突推高了用黄金来对冲风险的需求。

The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March has resulted in a liquidity crisis and pushed the gold price to top over $2,000 per ounce. The successive crisis of Credit Suisse and other banks has led to market concerns over the stability of the European banking system, further escalating the risk aversion in the market and increasing the market appetite for traditional risk-hedging assets such as gold, said Zhao.

赵相宾指出，今年3月硅谷银行的突然倒闭引发了清偿危机，从而导致金价飙升到每盎司2000美元。随后瑞士信贷和其他银行接二连三的危机引发了市场对于欧洲银行体系稳定性的担忧，进一步加重了市场厌恶风险的情绪，加大了市场对于黄金等传统保值资产的需求。

"As the market expectation for the US Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes has been piling up, the US dollar will thus be deprived of policy support, which will pillar the gold price," he added.

他补充道：“随着市场对美联储暂停加息的预期不断强化，美元将因此失去政策支持，这也会推高金价。”