Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has partnered with the World Gold Council to introduce the first gold investment gifting product in China.

Called the Only Gold Gift Bar, the product is designed to create a segment in the Chinese investment market, especially with the emerging trend for gold gifting. In 2010 alone, the gold retail investment market in the country had grown to more than 170 tonnes. The launch of this new gift product is expected to expand this market further by 10 to 15 per cent.

"Gold enjoys a prestigious status with Chinese consumers due to its unique features and association with Chinese tradition. In recent years, the giving of gold as a gift has become an emerging trend, usually through jewellery. [This product] enables recipients to benefit from gold's wealth preservation properties and will create a new niche segment in the market," Roland Wang, director and general manager at the World Gold Council in China, said in a statement.

The Only Gold Gift Bar offers bars weighing 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 grams and are engraved with "Fu", meaning "Joy." The price of the bars, which contain 99.99 per cent fine gold, is fixed based on the real-time gold price at the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Clients who wish to realise their investment may convert the bars back into cash through ICBC.