JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum has received a major boost from a strategic agreement signed at Shanghai Platinum Week 2026 at a time of rapid expansion of China’s platinum bar and coin market.

The boost is the result of Beijing’s Caibai signing a strategic agreement with the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC).

The agreement involves the introduction of the first-ever platinum investment bar series to be stocked by Caibai, a time-honoured gold bar and coin retailer, which turns 50 this year.

With immediate effect, a series of seven 30 g platinum investment bars have hit the market

“The growing interest in platinum as an investment product presents an exciting opportunity for us, and we have added the first platinum investment bar series to our range to give our customers more choice and enable them to access this market. We believe that there is significant development potential for platinum investment,” Caibai GM Caigang Ning stated.

“Our partnership with Caibai supports WPIC’s broader strategy of expanding platinum investment demand by improving retail accessibility. Caibai’s strong reputation and high footfall provide a compelling platform to introduce platinum to an even wider base of Chinese investors,” WPIC Asia Pacific regional head Weibin Deng added in the release to Mining Weekly.

Caibai’s dual role as jewellery retailer and bullion distributor reflects a distinctive feature of Asian precious metals markets, where jewellery has long held a quasi-investment function.

High-purity pieces are commonly purchased as both adornment and a store of value, with pricing often closely linked to underlying metal prices.

This has led to a high degree of interchangeability between jewellery and investment products, making it common for retailers to offer both.

Consumers frequently make jewellery purchases with the expectation that the items can be resold or exchanged based on metal content, reinforcing precious metals as a trusted investment vehicle.

The addition of platinum bars to Caibai’s range is therefore a natural progression, positioning the metal within an already well-established retail investment framework. It also comes at a time of rapid expansion in China’s platinum bar and coin market, which has grown from negligible levels in 2018 to an estimated 404 000 oz in 2025.

Meanwhile, industry leaders from across the global platinum group metals (PGM) value chain are engaging in Shanghai on the opportunities and challenges shaping the sector.

Other takeaways from the Shanghai Platinum Week are the manner in which AI is driving PGM demand through printed circuit board demand growth.

Much of the expenditure in optical crystal production centres on platinum and iridium needed for the crucibles to grow the crystals.

Fibreglass production has grown from 5.8-million tons in 2021 to 8.13-million tons in 2025 in China alone, with exports having doubled to 1.95-million tons.

Production capacity for low dielectric constant/low loss yarn made using PGM bushings needs to be expanded.

China’s platinum and palladium markets have developed following the launch of futures and options contracts on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX), which was launched after last year’s Shanghai Platinum Week.

GFEX is said to have contributed to improved price discovery, with platinum open interest averaging around 620 000 oz and average daily trading volumes of 186 000 oz.

A key potential milestone will be qualified foreign Investor approval. If granted, this could allow broader international participation and make the natural arbitrage between GFEX and global exchanges more accessible.