Chinese companies above a designated size reported a 12.2 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales of gold, silver and other jewelry to 247.2 billion yuan ($34.4 billion) between January and September, a trade body said.
The growth rate, second only to the catering industry's 18.7 percent during the same period, is far higher than the average growth of total retail sales — at 6.8 percent — across China, said Ye Zhibin, president of the Gems & Jewelry Trade Association of China during an international jewelry summit held in Shanghai earlier this month.
