Shanghai raises gold jewelry price to RMB 240 a gram

Driven by surging global gold prices, the base retail price of pure gold jewelry in Shanghai was raised to RMB 240 (US$32.98) a gram on Tuesday, from RMB 232.

Xu Wenjun, secretary general of the Shanghai Gold & Jewelry Trade Association, said that the gross sales of gold jewelry in Shanghai exceeded RMB 16 billion last year, doubling the figure for 2006, when sales of gold bar surpassed 2 tons.

As a result of a higher gold price, prices for gold jewelry are expected to climb. In 2007, the association adjusted the retail price of gold in Shanghai 31 times, 20 of which were increases, making gold price in Shanghai closer to international prices.

In 2007, global gold prices surged by 40%. On Monday, its price was at US$855 an ounce, the highest in the past 30 years.

Last year, China surpassed the U.S. to become the world's second largest gold jewelry market, while India ranked the first.