(Yicai) Oct. 22 -- Consumer demand for gold at jewelry retailers in China remained low despite the recent surge in product prices brought by the yellow metal's price reaching record highs, which has previously led to an increase in sales.

Spot gold prices continued to soar in Asian markets yesterday, reaching a new record high of USD2,754.01 per ounce, with prices continuing to fluctuate at high levels today. Due to this, gold products are retailing at over CNY800 (USD112) per gram at China's major jewelry chains.

However, Yicai found no crowds at Shanghai's jewelry retail stores last weekend. One customer considered buying more gold products after the sales price reached between CNY600 and CNY700 (USD84.20 and USD98.30) per gram but began to hesitate once it topped CNY700 per gram, the person said. "I don't dare to buy products priced at over CNY800. Such a price is too high."

The staff at the jewelry store told Yicai that business in the second half of this year was not as good as in previous years, mainly because the gold price stayed high. The shop sold much more gold bars than jewelry this year because the difference between bars' premium price to the spot one is much less than that of jewelry to spot, a salesperson noted.

The performance of listed Chinese gold jewelry retail chains has also dropped. Lukfook Jewellery's retail revenue fell 25 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, with gold products' same-store sales dropping 35 percent in worth and 52 percent in volume.

Only 860,000 tons of gold jewelry were sold on the Chinese market in the second quarter of this year, a record low since 2009, according to a report from the World Gold Council. Consumers bought 270 tons of gold jewelry in the six months ended June 30, down 18 percent from a year earlier.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev