CONSUMER gold demand in China is expected to sparkle at the upper-end of the single-digit annual growth rate for the economy as wealth is being accumulated very rapidly, said a senior manager at the World Gold Council.

"We expect gold demand in China to grow at least faster than the country's economic growth each year," said Albert Cheng, managing director for the Far East of the World Gold Council.

Over the past five years, consumer demand for gold has risen at an average rate of 13 percent annually in China. Gold demand in the country is set to double by tonnage terms in a decade due to an expanding economy and on an expected short supply of the metal, WGC said earlier.

"Investment gold is set to grow by double digits in China as an alternative," Cheng said.

The WGC is in talks with the Chinese securities regulator and the central bank on introducing an exchange-traded fund for gold in Shanghai. But it's still a long way to the launch of the ETF partly due to the lack of regulations on the product, he said.

Demand for retail investment gold has risen as prices climbed and on concerns of inflationary pressure.

The WGC will also tap China's rural market as authorities are shifting from trade and investment-led growth to domestic consumption.

The Chinese have a traditional frenzy for gold, with 24-carat, or 99.9 percent pure gold, taking 85 percent of the gold demand while the 18-carat gold accounts for 15 percent. Cheng expects the 18-carat's share to grow to 20 percent in five years.

Last year, total consumer demand for gold in China grew 7 percent to 461.9 tons. Demand for it in China was worth more than US$14 billion last year, about 11 percent of global gold demand.