BEIJING — China's actual gold consumption rose 14.73 percent to 304.14 metric tons in the first quarter of 2017 due to steady gold ornament sales and strong sales of gold bars, new data showed Thursday.

Thanks to strong demand around Chinese New Year, gold ornament sales rose 1.4 percent to 170.93 tons and gold bar sales surged 60.18 percent to 101.19 tons, the China Gold Association said.

The surge in gold bar sales came on the back of more people using them to hedge against risk as the public became more aware of its attributes, according to analysts.

Gold output in the first three months stood at 101.2 tons, down 9.29 percent from a year earlier, the association said.