Foreign media: Chinese brand old shops Goldin is rapidly reshaping the Chinese luxury goods market

Ask AI · Behind the rise of Lao Pu Gold’s “old shop” brand, how do culture and craftsmanship become core competitiveness?

Overseas Network April 7 · In late March, Lao Pu Gold Co., Ltd. released its 2025 financial report showing that Lao Pu Gold achieved sales performance of 31.375 billion yuan, up 220.3% year over year. In the Chinese market, its luxury revenue surpassed Hermès and other global luxury brands, drawing attention from overseas media.

The financial report released by Lao Pu Gold in March shows that in 2025, its net profit surged 234.9% to 5.03 billion yuan. According to statistics from Frost & Sullivan, Lao Pu Gold’s performance in a single mall in 2025 was nearly 1 billion yuan, ranking first worldwide among luxury brands in both store efficiency and sales per square meter. Singapore’s commercial magazine Time Finance wrote that Lao Pu Gold is rapidly reshaping China’s luxury market. This high-end gold jewelry brand was once seen as a “dark horse,” and now, supported by sustained revenue growth and outstanding store performance, it has become a strong challenger in China to well-known brands such as Cartier, Bvlgari, and others. Lao Pu Gold is a homegrown luxury brand in China, deeply rooted in traditional Chinese ancient-method handcrafted gold goods. One core factor behind its rise is combining symbols of traditional Chinese culture with the craftsmanship and the intrinsic value of gold.

Data released by the U.S. market research firm Frost & Sullivan shows that in 2025, in the Chinese market, Lao Pu Gold ranked second in luxury revenue, surpassing Hermès and narrowing the gap with the world’s largest luxury group, LVMH. In a market historically dominated by Western brands, Lao Pu Gold’s rise is especially eye-catching. It is driving structural changes in the luxury industry, transforming a local brand into a core force in the sector. Some analysts believe that the competition between Lao Pu Gold and leading global brands in China over the next few years will determine the industry’s landscape.

Japan’s Nikkei Asia website, a media outlet under Nikkei Inc., reported that the rise of the Lao Pu Gold brand marks a new stage in competition among global luxury brands. By making traditional Chinese craftsmanship its main selling point, Lao Pu Gold successfully resonated with Chinese consumers, thereby widening the gap with Western competitors. “Behind this kind of market enthusiasm lies remarkable performance support.”

Citigroup analyst Feng (Tiffany Feng) believes that Lao Pu Gold’s rapid growth in the past few years has been driven by multiple factors working together. Some people saw its product value when gold prices kept hitting record highs and the market was in an upward cycle. Other consumers were attracted by Lao Pu Gold’s inherited craftsmanship and distinctive design.

A survey by the Hurun Research Institute shows that Lao Pu Gold has formed unique differentiated competitive advantages across dimensions such as brand building, product design, service standards, and retail experience. Lao Pu Gold has created a highly recognizable brand image, precisely attracting a group of consumers who pursue cultural depth and long-term value. Time Finance believes that Lao Pu Gold’s development trajectory reveals an important shift in the luxury industry: brands have moved beyond the traditional retail model oriented toward gold jewelry as a bulk commodity, and instead are building a new development model centered on design, culture, and branding—redefining the meaning of development in China’s high-end gold jewelry sector.

While it is generating strong enthusiasm in the domestic market, Lao Pu Gold is also preparing to develop overseas. Nikkei Asia website quoted Lao Pu Gold Chairman Xu Gaoming as saying that in 2026, the brand will actively expand its overseas presence, with its first stop in Southeast Asia. At present, preliminary research and discussions are already underway regarding new store locations in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.