China’s gold and jewellery industry is entering a brand-new stage of development:
Materials, craftsmanship and design are iterating at an accelerating pace, raising the bar across the board, while the core of market competition is gradually shifting toward the long-term cultivation of “brand power“.
Especially in the rapidly evolving Chinese market, Luxe.CO believes that only by truly rooting themselves in Chinese culture, articulating distinctive and clearly defined value propositions, and sparking deep emotional resonance can brands be endowed with genuine vitality and long-term value, ultimately earning consumers’ heartfelt recognition and preference.
Ahead of the 2026 Chinese New Year, Chow Tai Fook took the lead in building a cultural narrative around the concept of “Fu”, officially announcing Yang Yang as its global brand ambassador and “Chief Fu Officer”, while launching a new product range and rolling out themed campaigns.
Founded in 1929, Chow Tai Fook, long regarded as a “leader” in the gold and jewellery sector, has now taken another pivotal step forward in strengthening its brand power.
This article takes an in-depth look at how Chow Tai Fook, through its “Fu culture”, has systematically identified and cultivated its brand DNA, refining it into a distinctive language of “Chinese culture” and unfolding a personalised brand narrative:
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Identifying a symbol that is both deeply rooted in the brand’s imprint and connected to universal values — “Fu”;
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Injecting the auspicious meaning of “receiving blessings” into gold jewellery consumption through the personified role of the “Chief Fu Officer”;
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Leveraging festive occasions to集中 release the idea of “Fu culture” and resonate in sync with public sentiment.
Rooted in Brand Heritage, Connected to Universal Values
In the early stages of brand development, a brand’s identity is largely defined by its target audience. When a brand dares to articulate a strong and distinctive value proposition, it usually indicates that it has already achieved considerable scale and influence, and that its brand culture has accumulated sufficient depth.
According to the China Gold Yearbook 2025 released by the China Gold Association, Chow Tai Fook ranked first among Chinese gold and jewellery enterprises with annual sales revenue of RMB 75.99 billion (approximately USD 10.64 billion).
Based on Luxeplace’s ranking of the market capitalisation of global listed luxury companies as of the end of 2025, Chow Tai Fook ranked 12th overall, making it the most valuable Chinese luxury company by market capitalisation. Chow Tai Fook’s share price rose by 84.1% in 2025, bringing its current market value to HKD 142.06 billion.
As a jewellery giant with nearly a century of history and the highest revenue in China, Chow Tai Fook has accumulated profound insights into jewellery consumption among Chinese consumers, and has internalised these insights into a unique set of brand values.
Gold and jewellery is a category that relies heavily on emotional trust. Chow Tai Fook was the first to introduce 999.9 pure gold jewellery in Hong Kong and Macau in 1972, and pioneered the fixed-price policy in 1990. By consistently building its reputation on credibility, the brand has forged trust-based relationships with customers that span generations.
Upholding the vision of “leading the jewellery industry and accompanying generations through life’s journeys“, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Vice Chairman Sonia Cheng explained to Luxeplace: “Trust is the core attribute that differentiates Chow Tai Fook from other brands. Chow Tai Fook jewellery is an emotional token and heirloom passed down through countless families. Whether in the Chinese Mainland or in Hong Kong, almost every household treasures at least one piece of Chow Tai Fook jewellery.”
In 2024, Chow Tai Fook embarked on a brand transformation journey aimed at deepening connections with younger consumers through culture, experience and innovation, while sustaining emotional resonance across generations. The Fu Inheritance Collection, launched the same year, quickly gained market recognition, becoming the spark that ultimately led to the articulation of today’s “Fu culture”.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Fu Inheritance Collection
The concept of Chow Tai Fook’s “Fu culture” is derived from the character “Fu” in the brand’s name. It encapsulates the emotional bonds of commitment, companionship and inheritance that the brand has shared with households over its 97-year history, and will continue to drive brand transformation in a more vivid and human-centred way.
The character “Fu” itself is one of the most deeply ingrained symbols in traditional Chinese culture. As early as the Book of Documents and the Book of Rites, systematic interpretations of “Fu” can be found. Over thousands of years, it has evolved into one of the most widely used auspicious characters in Chinese folk culture.
A brand’s value proposition must be long-term and able to withstand the test of time. Looking across Chinese civilisation, there are very few cultural symbols that so succinctly embody collective aspirations for well-being while also enjoying broad public recognition. As a living linguistic and cultural heritage, the character “Fu” possesses an irreplaceable capacity for cultural cohesion and universal resonance.
By positioning “Fu culture” as its core value proposition, Chow Tai Fook has identified a point of convergence between historical depth and widespread public awareness. This symbol, imbued with universal meaning yet strongly associated with the brand, will continue to carry Chow Tai Fook’s story forward to the next generation of young consumers and the global market.
Breaking Through Psychological Barriers with Humanity
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, Chow Tai Fook officially announced Yang Yang as its “Chief Fu Officer”, positioning him as a key narrator of the brand’s “Fu culture”.
As Sonia Cheng wrote in her 2025 year-end reflection: “The essence of business is always about connections between people.” (quoted from her personal WeChat public account). The building of brand culture and the communication of value propositions are, at their core, a long-term dialogue that speaks directly to people’s hearts.
A high-quality spokesperson whose image aligns with the brand’s tone serves as a personified expression of a brand’s values. Through vivid, relatable characters and stories, brand beliefs can gently and imperceptibly permeate consumer perception.
Across numerous film and television works, Yang Yang has portrayed iconic roles that blend classical elegance with a modern sensibility. He embodies a refined Eastern temperament while retaining contemporary fashion appeal, making his personal image highly compatible with Chow Tai Fook’s brand ethos of “modern, innovative design fused with traditional craftsmanship”. At the same time, as a highly influential figure whose reach spans from Generation Z to more mature consumer groups, his involvement helps “Fu culture” achieve broader cross-generational communication.
Chow Tai Fook collaborated closely with Yang Yang to produce a Chinese New Year brand film and a series of visual campaigns. On screen, Yang Yang engages in a gentle dialogue with his past self, sharing reflections on growth and steadfast love. The two versions of Yang Yang, existing in different timeframes, respectively wear pieces from the Fu Inheritance Collection and the latest Inheritance Collection Chinese New Year edition. Jewellery becomes a time-transcending token of blessings, while the line “Let every generation feel the warmth of ‘Fu'” directly echoes Chow Tai Fook’s core value of generational inheritance.
By adopting Yang Yang’s perspective as the narrative starting point, the film renders the abstract idea of “Fu culture” tangible and perceptible, enhancing the emotional authenticity of jewellery. On social media, viewers commented that this people-focused advertisement broke conventional perceptions of Chinese gold jewellery brands. Rather than conveying a first impression of the “heaviness” or monetary value of gold, it highlighted a sense of refined Eastern elegance.
The Chow Tai Fook Inheritance Collection Chinese New Year edition draws inspiration from traditional Chinese firecrackers and incorporates the auspicious “persimmon calyx” motif, integrating blessings of warding off evil and universal good fortune into contemporary jewellery design.
For heritage brands, public perception is often shaped by ingrained cognitive inertia. Communicating a value proposition is, in essence, a process of reshaping perception. Updates to slogans, logos or product design tend to be symbolic and mechanical; when expressed through a real person, they gain emotional depth and persuasive power, making it easier to transcend entrenched perceptions and encourage consumers to embrace a brand’s new image and values.
Looking ahead, Chow Tai Fook’s collaboration with its “Chief Fu Officer” Yang Yang will extend beyond the Chinese New Year, weaving the act of “passing on Fu” into the brand’s everyday storytelling. Through culturally rich co-created content, the simple act of “buying Chow Tai Fook” will be subtly imbued with a ritualistic sense of “receiving blessings from Chow Tai Fook”.
Notably, Yang Yang also serves as Chow Tai Fook’s global brand ambassador. With his broad influence across regions such as Southeast Asia, this appointment signals the brand’s intention to leverage high-quality talent to accelerate penetration and recognition in global markets, building emotional bridges for its international expansion.
According to the group’s financial reports, Chow Tai Fook currently operates around 60 stores in international markets. The brand has recently opened strategically significant new stores at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore and Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand. Looking ahead, Chow Tai Fook will further expand its international retail footprint: it plans to enter the Australian market for the first time by the end of June 2026, add a new store in Canada, and aims to enter the Middle East within the next two years.
Chow Tai Fook store at Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand
At a time when confidence in national culture is rapidly rising, there is no better moment to tell Chinese stories to the world. Chow Tai Fook’s introduction of “Fu culture” to international markets is also a concrete expression of its brand essence: “Using jewellery to show the world the beauty of China.”
Seizing Cultural Moments to Amplify Emotional Resonance
As the Chinese New Year approaches, Chow Tai Fook is creating a “Ma Dao Fu Lai” festive garden fair at MixC Luohu in Shenzhen, offering consumers an immersive experience of “Fu culture”. Amid the strong festive atmosphere, the brand’s philosophy of guardianship and companionship is translated into heartfelt blessings.
The Chinese New Year is the moment when emotional resonance with traditional Chinese culture is at its strongest. From the announcement of the “Chief Fu Officer” to the launch of offline themed experiences, Chow Tai Fook’s concentrated release of “Fu culture” messaging at this time leverages collective social sentiment to elevate its brand proposition to a peak.
When people are immersed in anticipation and joy during the festive season, brands need little explanation. Through sincere audiovisual and tactile experiences, consumers can naturally understand and embrace the underlying meaning. With “Fu” as an omnipresent cultural symbol of the Chinese New Year, festive joy and blessings become deeply intertwined with the brand image.
Inspired by the traditional lantern art of the “revolving lantern”, the “Ma Dao Fu Lai” festive garden fair features a central pavilion equipped with a “Thousand-Flower Mirror” and a “Fu Ma Viewing Box”. Guests can experience Chow Tai Fook’s jewellery craftsmanship through playful interactions. Four traditional Song- and Yuan-dynasty street games, paper toys, guanpu, cuju-like ball games, and funhouse mirrors are creatively transformed into lucky, interactive installations that deliver auspicious wishes to participants.
Whether through interactive designs in pop-up spaces or the aesthetic expression of new products, Chow Tai Fook activates traditional “Fu culture” through a contemporary lens, infusing the concept of “Fu” with renewed vitality.
This value proposition, which fuses deep-rooted tradition with innovative interpretation, not only encourages young consumers to participate actively but also allows the brand’s long-accumulated cultural heritage to truly align with the expectations of today’s consumers.
Conclusion
Since embarking on its brand transformation, Chow Tai Fook has delivered a series of pleasant surprises. Over the past year, from the launch of its first high jewellery collection, Harmony of the East, to its deep collaboration with the 15th National Games, and crossovers with trend-setting IPs such as Black Myth: Wukong, this near-century-old jewellery house has fully revealed a renewed image that combines youthful energy with a global outlook.
Now, with “Fu culture” at its core and in partnership with global brand ambassador and “Chief Fu Officer” Yang Yang, Chow Tai Fook is elevating its brand building to a higher dimension, striding confidently into the global market with the posture of a contemporary luxury brand.
This form of brand culture construction, rooted in “authenticity”, is set to inject the brand with even greater vitality and resonate with consumers from diverse cultural backgrounds around the world.
| Image Credit: Chow Tai Fook
| Editor: Elisa
