The rise of China has been a major driver of the demand for gold。

中国已经一跃成为黄金需求的主要驱动者。

While gold has little industrial use, it holds profound cultural significance for the Chinese。

黄金的工业价值虽然很低，但对中国文化却有着深厚的影响意义。

The biggest driver of consumer demand in China is clearly one event: the wedding。

在中国，对黄金的消费需求最明显的是体现在婚礼上。

"It is estimated that close to 40% of Chinese 24 carat jewelery consumption is related to weddings," note the analysts at the World Gold Council. "In the third and fourth tier cities this percentage is greater."

来自世界黄金协会的分析师们指出：“据估计接近40%的中国人为婚礼准备24克拉的黄金首饰，在三、四线城市这个比例更大。”

24 carat jewelery accounts for 85% of gold jewellery demand in China。

24克拉珠宝占中国黄金珠宝需求量的85%。

"‘Pure gold’ jewellery is a unique product that fulfills the requirements of both adornment and investment, and research confirms its appeal to young consumers," said the analysts。

“纯金首饰”是同时满足首饰和投资两种需求的独特产品，并且研究证实纯金首饰吸引了很多年轻消费者，”分析师说。

Here's some more color:

黄金的需求量继续增长：

The growth in the number of people of marriageable age together with, in general, increasing wealth has boosted sales of jewellery for traditional wedding sets and rings. Typically a three-piece wedding set, known in Mandarin Chinese as jiehun san jing might consist of a necklace/pendant/bracelet, ring and earring combination. Bracelets are especially popular in southern China where wedding sets are also often five-rather than three-piece。

随着适龄结婚人数的增长，总体增长财富不断推动了传统婚礼珠宝和戒指的销售量。典型的婚礼三件套“结婚三金”的说法就是指黄金项链/吊坠/手镯-戒指-耳环(合在一起算一套)。手镯在中国南方婚礼上特别受欢迎，在南方地区，通常是五件套而不是三件套。

The number of marriages, according to the mainland’s official data for China has increased by 60% since the middle of the last decade to 13.2 million at the end of 2012. This has undoubtedly made an important contribution to growth in demand for 24 carat gold over the last decade。

根据中国大陆结婚人数的官方数据统计，自过去五年至今，结婚人数已经增加了60%。截止到2012年底达到了1320万人。这无疑为过去10年里24克拉黄金需求量的增长产生了重要的影响。

China, however, faces an unusual demographic hurdle that is bad news for weddings。

然而，中国面临着一个不同寻常的人口障碍，对婚礼来说可谓是个坏消息。

"Women are bearing only 0.71 girls over their lifetime, well below the replacement figure of just over unity," noted the analysts at Nomura. "In 2010, there were 51m more men than woman in the country. The sex ratio among newborns is 120 boys for every 100 girls, the highest in the world. At this rate, there will not be enough brides for as many as one-fifth of today‟s baby boys when they get to marrying age, heightening the risk of social tensions."

“女性一生只生育0.71个女婴，男婴女婴的出生数量相差悬殊，” 野村证券的分析师指出。“在2010年，中国男性比女性多出5100万。新生儿的性别比例是120个男孩：100个女孩，这是世界上最高的性别比例。在这样的比例下，高达五分之一的男婴到了适婚年龄都没有合适的新娘，这就存在加剧社会紧张局势的风险。”

WGC analysts acknowledge this concern, but note that this will be a bigger issue for demand in the 2020s。

WGC分析师也认为存在这样的担忧，但也同时指出在21世纪20年代黄金需求量会成为一个更大的问题。

For now, expect demand and weddings to continue to rise through at least 2017.

目前至少到2017年，黄金的预计需求量和婚礼人数都会继续上升。