The global jewellery industry’s highly anticipated event, the 2026 Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), has officially opened. The World Gold Council, together with 10 Chinese gold jewellery manufacturing enterprises, is making its first collective appearance at the show with a dedicated exhibition zone -- Hard Pure Gold Pavilion, further advancing the Gold Jewellery Going Global Initiative.

Following Hard Pure Gold’s debut on the international stage in 2025, which marked the start of its global expansion, this year’s exhibition represents a key step forward in its internationalisation journey. Featuring a more culturally integrated product portfolio, Hard Pure Gold aims to deliver solutions better suited to global gold consumption markets in an era of elevated gold prices.

As a flagship platform connecting China with global markets, the HKTDC jewellery shows are renowned for their extensive international buyer networks, global communications reach, and mature trade-matching systems, enabling the efficient creation of tangible global business opportunities. This aligns closely with the World Gold Council China’s objective of “bringing innovative gold jewellery that represents Chinese intelligent manufacturing to the international market.”

As an innovation benchmark within China’s gold jewellery industry, Hard Pure Gold has achieved standardised development under a clearly defined industry framework. According to the Hard Pure Gold Jewellery Industry Standard (QB/T 5793-2024), issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in May 2024 and officially implemented in 2025, Hard Pure Gold refers to gold jewellery with a Vickers hardness of no less than 60HV and a gold purity of at least 990‰. Manufactured using advanced processes such as electroforming and lost-wax casting, Hard Pure Gold delivers three core advantages — harder, lighter, and brighter:

• Harder: Superior wear resistance and enhanced gem-setting stability, enabling complex designs and diverse cultural aesthetic expressions.
• Lighter: Hollow-forming techniques achieve lighter weight at the same volume, improving wearing comfort and significantly lowering the purchase threshold amid high gold prices, particularly appealing to younger consumers.
• Brighter: A mirror-like lustre comparable to 18K gold, meeting the aesthetic expectations of global fashion jewellery.

At this year’s show, the dedicated Hard Pure Gold Pavilion emerged as a major highlight, showcasing the latest breakthroughs in design and craftsmanship and comprehensively demonstrating the top-tier manufacturing capabilities and innovative design strength of China’s gold jewellery industry. The booth also features six specially designed display cases, each highlighting a distinct aspect of the remarkable versatility of Hard Pure Gold, including: larger volume with lighter weight, interactive and playful designs, diamond inlay, multi-material combinations such as pearls and wood, shining like 18K gold in Western style, and the expression of diverse global cultures.

Based on prior market feedback, the World Gold Council selected Chinese manufacturers with strong core technologies and innovation capabilities as partners — Batar Group, Cuilu Manufacturing, Foreway Group, Ganlu Jewellery, Mingfeng Jewellery, Yue Hao Jewellery, Chao Zun Jewellery, Guanhua Jewellery, Jinmingzhu Jewellery and Swiky Jewellery— to build a more competitive Hard Pure Gold global supply chain and further advance its transition towards scaled global development.

Another key highlight was the Award-winning Showcase of the Hong Kong International Fashion Chuk Kam (Pure Gold) Jewellery Design Competition 2026, the first competition in the industry to designate Hard Pure Gold as the mandatory material and require the integration of diverse cultural elements from around the world. The winning pieces combine Hard Pure Gold’s technical advantages with the aesthetics of different cultures, demonstrating its exceptional adaptability to diverse design styles and validating its global development potential under the concept of “global design, local adaptation.” This lays a strong design foundation for Hard Pure Gold’s integration into local markets worldwide.

During the exhibition, the World Gold Council also hosted Hard Pure Gold Seminar and business matchmaking event, engaging professional buyers and industry organisations from key overseas markets. These events highlighted the unique advantages and significant potential of Hard Pure Gold while efficiently connecting China’s supply chain with global markets.

Since launching the Gold Jewellery Going Global Initiative with Hard Pure Gold as its core in 2025, this innovative category has received enthusiastic responses in international markets. Through participation in major international jewellery exhibitions, Hard Pure Gold has attracted strong interest from retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers in key gold jewellery consumption markets such as Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East. Participating companies have secured their first overseas orders and explored in-depth collaborations with international partners, demonstrating Hard Pure Gold’s strong market acceptance and commercial value.

Roland Wang, Regional CEO (China) of the World Gold Council, commented:
“2025 marked the starting point of Hard Pure Gold’s global journey, as we took a crucial step from Chinese innovation to international debut. In 2026, we are deepening its global deployment. The core appeal of Hard Pure Gold lies in its ability to preserve the intrinsic high purity of gold while leveraging enhanced hardness to support diverse cultural design expressions. More importantly, its lightweight advantage addresses the shared challenge of high gold prices worldwide, offering a sustainable solution. We hope to use Hard Pure Gold as a bridge to connect China’s mature jewellery supply chain, innovative craftsmanship, and design capabilities with global consumer demand, enabling Hard Pure Gold to become a key driver of innovation in the global gold jewellery market — and allowing consumers around the world to experience the unique charm of Chinese gold jewellery.”

Hard Pure Gold’s global journey is now moving from “showcasing” to “deep market engagement.” Leveraging China’s mature craftsmanship standards and innovative design capabilities, combined with diverse global cultural consumption needs, this Chinese-origin gold jewellery category is rapidly emerging as a new favourite in global gold jewellery consumption. It is injecting Chinese momentum into the innovative development of the global gold jewellery market while opening new pathways for the internationalisation of China’s gold jewellery industry. The World Gold Council sincerely invites global industry partners, buyers, and experts to join hands in exploring the global potential of Hard Pure Gold and unlocking the limitless possibilities of the future of gold jewellery.