China Gold Jewelry Unveils Traceable Investment Bars with Laser Codes

On August 8, China Gold Group Gold Jewelry Co. , Ltd. held its first media open day in Beijing, announcing that traceability code technology has been fully applied across its entire range of investment gold bars. In May 2026, the company jointly released the new upgraded traceable investment gold bars with the National Gold and Silver Products Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Nanjing). Each bar bears a fingernail-sized micro QR code on its surface; consumers can scan it with a smartphone to view the product name, testing number, manufacturer, and sales outlet, with timestamps for testing, delivery, and warehousing specified to the year, month, and day.

The core of the traceability system is the micro QR code directly laser-engraved onto the bar's base material. Complete engraving of a single bar takes less than five seconds, and the 6mm code incurs only 0.0002 grams of material loss, without altering the bar's nominal weight. The QR code encapsulates key data including manufacturer, origin, specification, unique serial number, and anti-counterfeiting matrix parameters. The system establishes a four-level closed-loop traceability architecture: the upstream raw material stage records ore mining and recycled gold composition with original testing data; the midstream production stage logs refining, processing batches, techniques, and factory quality reports; the downstream retail stage links store information and sales ledgers; and the recycling loop stage keeps complete records of old gold re-inspection and secondary circulation.

China Gold investment bars adopt a three-code integration system, combining the certificate inside the sealed plastic bag, the numeric code on the bar, and the QR code, forming a full lifecycle management system. All data is stored in the backend, and the bar's digital identity can be queried by scanning the code or entering the bar code. Even if the plastic bag is opened or the QR code is damaged, traceability verification remains possible through multi-dimensional cross-checks involving the certificate, purchase invoice, and on-site testing. The system combines physical coding with encryption algorithms, enabling recognition and automatic warning of counterfeit codes, while genuine bars have unique and fixed scan information.

Pricing for traceable bars is identical to that of ordinary bars, with no additional processing fees for the upgraded technology. The bars are available at physical stores and on the China Gold app. Consumers can submit repurchase requests through the app to schedule door-to-door gold collection, with assaying and refining stages photographed and archived for reference; repurchase payments are returned to the reserved bank card within three working days.

According to China Gold Association data, in the first half of 2026, China's gold consumption totaled 511.412 tonnes, up 1.23% year on year. Consumption of gold jewelry was 132.133 tonnes, down 33.88%, while bar and coin consumption reached 339.336 tonnes, up 28.42%. Over the past decade, gold counterfeiting methods have evolved continuously: in 2012, gold bar adulteration scandals erupted; in 2013, iridium-doped ornaments entered the market; in 2023, complaints over fixed-price gold jewelry surged; in 2024, gold-plated silver and layered gold proliferated; and in 2025, hidden adulteration with tungsten and rhenium became a new industry risk. National policies and new industry standards are also driving digital traceability. The Shanghai Gold Exchange issued the Green Gold Ingot and Green Refining Evaluation Requirements, while the mandatory national standard GB28480 imposes strict controls on heavy metals, formaldehyde, and phthalates in jewelry leather, plastic, and accessories. Document No. 54 (2024) of the market supervision and testing authority calls for inspection bodies to integrate internet and big data to build one-stop digital service platforms.

The National Gold and Silver Products Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Nanjing) is the designated inspection body for both the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Guangzhou Futures Exchange. Each traceable investment gold bar features a laser-marked, unique, and tamper-proof QR code on its surface. Consumers can scan the code to query the full chain of information through the official channel of the Nanjing national inspection center. China Gold Jewelry has also built a one-stop service platform via the China Gold app, covering traceability queries, repurchase monetization, and after-sales protection across all scenarios.