Gold bullions from China Goldsilver (CGS) Co. Ltd. were formally put on sale this week in Shenzhen. The unprocessed lumps of metal sold like hot cakes in Shenzhen.

The business office of China Merchants Bank Headquarters, which has been given an exclusive license to trade gold bullions, noted that they sold 106 ounces of the precious metal within the first hour of sale.

For instance, a man surnamed Zhang alone, spent more than 230,000 yuan (US$ 27,845) to buy 18 gold bullions weighing 69 ounces.

The gold bullions in Shenzhen, where one of China's two only bourses are situated, come in three sizes -- two ounces, five ounces and 10 ounces, with 99.99 percent in gold purity, said Zhou Li'ang, CGS general manager.

Investors' demand for gold has continued to increase internationally over the past years.

For example, in Guangdong province, one of China's economic powerhouses, 140 tons of gold were sold last year, accounting for more than a half of the country's total gold sales.

"The overall gold pricing trend on the domestic market goes in tandem with that of the international market. Investors should familiarize themselves with the long-term gold pricing trend of the international market if they want to make investments in gold," warned Zhou.

CGS's prices for gold are set with gold pricing from the London's precious metals market as the yardstick and the prices from Shanghai Gold Exchange as the reference, said Zhou.

The buy-back rate of gold bullions has remained around 10 percent since December when sale of CGS gold bullions debuted. Relevant back purchases were launched in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan province.
 
 (Shenzhen Daily July 16, 2004)