The beans,which weigh as little as one gram and cost about 600 yuan ($130),are seen as a safe investment for a younger generation peering into gloomier economic horizon.
The country’s export-driven economy has struggled to regain the pace of growth it enjoyed before the pandemic,an event which prompted the US to boost its own manufacturing to compete with China.
Signs of trouble abound,with the property market in crisis,the stockmarket sluggish,and youth unemployment hovering at 15 per cent. Enter the gold beans.
Shi Wu,a 23-year-old actress in Beijing,began her gold bean collection a month ago,and has purchased three beans so far,costing 1700 Yuan ($363) in total.
“It was both fun and an investment. So I jumped on the bandwagon. Also,it seems there are not much other good options for investment today,” she said.
“Gold is stable and gold price will never go down too badly. They are not too expensive and I can afford it.”