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Graft suspicions tarnish trend for gold mooncakes
September 30, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Gold mooncakes made their debut in the gift sector ahead of China's back-to-back autumn holiday but suspicions of corruption have been raised.
Made of pure gold, the mooncake-shaped items witnessed good sales on the eve of China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival.
"Most of the buyers are groups of clients of companies and enterprises who have bought gold mooncakes as a gift," said a shop assistant in a department store in Xuanwumen in downtown Beijing.
One of the most favored gift box consists of two pieces, which weigh 50 grams each. The price is 42,900 yuan (US$6,821) - equal to 429 yuan per gram. The price of standard metal bars is around 360 yuan.
There are also other choices of mooncakes with various weights of gold or silver.
In some stores, gold and silver mooncake giftboxes sold out on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays running from today until October 7.
Mooncakes are an essential part of China's Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a holiday about family reunions and cakes are a common gift between family and friends.
However, many netizens on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, and web-sharing site Youku, condemned golden mooncakes, as a form of corruption.
"Who will put gold mooncakes on the dining table? It is just to hide corruption," said a netizen named Lantianbaiyun3215 on Sina Weibo.
"The authorities should take it as a clue in fighting corruption to trace both the buyers and the receivers," said a netizen named Zhaijianhui.
Amid the global economic downturn, gold is cherished more for its increasing value as an asset, as it is unlikely it will be affected by inflation, said Wu Zhengzheng, a precious metal analyst in the Chihong International Co Ltd.
Gold mooncakes are not the only high-price gifts to trigger public concerns. Silver rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival in June, and high-end West Lake longjing tea have also come under suspicion.
China's domestic gift market is estimated to be worth more than 760 billion yuan annually, of which more than 262 billion yuan is consumed by group clients, said a survey conducted by China Gift Industry Research Institute.
Made of pure gold, the mooncake-shaped items witnessed good sales on the eve of China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival.
"Most of the buyers are groups of clients of companies and enterprises who have bought gold mooncakes as a gift," said a shop assistant in a department store in Xuanwumen in downtown Beijing.
One of the most favored gift box consists of two pieces, which weigh 50 grams each. The price is 42,900 yuan (US$6,821) - equal to 429 yuan per gram. The price of standard metal bars is around 360 yuan.
There are also other choices of mooncakes with various weights of gold or silver.
In some stores, gold and silver mooncake giftboxes sold out on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays running from today until October 7.
Mooncakes are an essential part of China's Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a holiday about family reunions and cakes are a common gift between family and friends.
However, many netizens on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, and web-sharing site Youku, condemned golden mooncakes, as a form of corruption.
"Who will put gold mooncakes on the dining table? It is just to hide corruption," said a netizen named Lantianbaiyun3215 on Sina Weibo.
"The authorities should take it as a clue in fighting corruption to trace both the buyers and the receivers," said a netizen named Zhaijianhui.
Amid the global economic downturn, gold is cherished more for its increasing value as an asset, as it is unlikely it will be affected by inflation, said Wu Zhengzheng, a precious metal analyst in the Chihong International Co Ltd.
Gold mooncakes are not the only high-price gifts to trigger public concerns. Silver rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival in June, and high-end West Lake longjing tea have also come under suspicion.
China's domestic gift market is estimated to be worth more than 760 billion yuan annually, of which more than 262 billion yuan is consumed by group clients, said a survey conducted by China Gift Industry Research Institute.
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