A Chinese girl invests her “Eidiya” in buying gold

A 10-year-old Chinese girl took an unusual investment step for a child of her age. Three years ago, she decided to use the money she received during the Lunar New Year to buy gold, instead of keeping it in cash. The decision of the girl, who hails from the city of Langfang in Hebei Province, northern China, was motivated by her fear that her parents would spend that money, so she chose to transfer it to gold savings that she considered safer and easier to save.

Since this step began in 2023, the girl has continued to invest the “Eid gift” she receives annually in buying gold, taking advantage of the inherited Chinese tradition, which requires that adults give children or unmarried people, regardless of their age, money inside red envelopes during the Spring Festival, as an expression of wishes for good luck and health in the new year. These envelopes are known as “Lai Si” in the “Cantonese” language and “Hong Bao” in the “Mandarin” language.

According to what her mother, called Bai, revealed, her daughter receives about 4,000 yuan annually, equivalent to about 580 dollars, and when she bought gold for the first time three years ago, the price of one gram was approximately 460 yuan (about 66 dollars), but prices witnessed a noticeable increase, reaching by February of this year about 1,100 yuan per gram, which means more than double the price at which she initially bought it.

Last year, gold prices in China recorded a record high, rising by about 60%, followed by an additional rise of nearly 30% during the first month of this year.

Despite this upward trend, on January 30, the markets witnessed a sharp decline of more than 9% in one day, which is the largest daily decline since 1983. This sudden decline prompted many citizens in China to turn to gold stores, whether to seize purchasing opportunities or to make profits from their previous investments.

As for the child, she has so far been able to buy about 30 grams of gold, according to her mother, who explained that her daughter has not sold any part of what she owns yet, but rather intends to continue buying whenever she has the opportunity.

On social media platforms, the story of the Chinese girl sparked widespread interaction, as users gave her nicknames, such as “the genius,” “the lucky investor,” and “the girl who travels through time,” in reference to the fortunate timing of her investment decisions. Some followers also jokingly asked her mother about the next investment step her daughter might take.

For her part, the mother admitted that her daughter seemed more proficient than her in the field of investment, and expressed her regret that she did not take the initiative to buy gold when its prices were much lower than they are today. In the comments of followers, one of them wrote: “I see in this girl a successful businesswoman in the future,” while another said that buying gold with the money that children earn is a smart move, noting that many remember how their parents used to spend their “lucky money” in their childhood. About the South China Morning Post