By Donny Kwok

HONG KONG, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The world's most valuable jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook, which counts Cartier and Tiffany & Co as competitors, is on a quest to conquer the hearts of China's future big spenders. Its weapons of choice: Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh.

Superman and the Angry Birds team also feature in Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group's range of fashionable, and affordable, pieces which the company hopes will win over the millions of Chinese who live outside major cities but who are reaping the benefits of a rapidly growing economy and who remain enamoured by the gleam of gold.

"We are quite similar to the fast fashion way of business in that our products are only available for a limited period of time," Kent Wong, managing director of Chow Tai Fook, told Reuters.

"The stock-keeping units will have to respond promptly to the fast-changing tastes of customers, especially young customers, who can share information about trends very quickly on their smartphones," he added.

China, the world's second largest economy, is on track to overtake India as the world's biggest consumer of gold this year as falling prices encourage purchases for both personal use and investment.

Combine that penchant for gold with a population that is rapidly urbanising, and becoming more affluent and trend-conscious in the process, and building customer loyalty as well as keeping up with fashion becomes key to the prospects of jewellery retailers.

About 100 million people are likely to move into cities over the next 17 years, according to ratings agency Moody's. China is already the second largest market for Zara-brand owner Inditex , the world's biggest fashion retailer.

"Just like fast fashion, fast jewellery is the right stuff to target at the youth and the products can also sell at a better margin when they are limited edition," said Renee Tai, a Hong-Kong based analyst at brokerage UOB-Kay Hian.

GOLD FOR THE MASSES

Chow Tai Fook's fashion jewellery, which costs between HK$200 and HK$2,000 ($26 and $260), is a far cry from the luxury offerings that have traditionally accounted for over 80 percent of sales, and which on average cost about 10 times as much.

But the shift to expand mass-market retail is already paying off. Chow Tai Fook saw its net profit rise by a forecast-beating 92.3 percent in the six months ended September, with same-store sales growing 33.2 percent.

Chow Tai Fook, which has a market value of nearly $16 billion, is not alone in targeting the masses.

Smaller rival Luk Fook Holdings International, with a market value of $2.4 billion, is looking at opening stores in busy railway stations to expand its reach in China and raise its profile in less developed cities and the vast hinterland.