Last Updated : 14 May 2009 at 17:45 IST

China jewellery exports to touch $12 billion

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Commodity Online
BEIJING: Is China emerging as a big destination for jewellery exporters. It seems so as China’s jewellery shops promising increased sales in the coming months.

According to ‘Jewelry Shanghai 2009’, China’s jewellery industry can expect annual sales of 300 billion yuan and exports worth over $12 billion. Consequently, China will become one of the most competitive producers and a trade centre of jewellery and accessories in the world, as well as the world’s biggest consumer market of jewellery.

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The development of the jewellery industry relies on an increase in national economic strength and a rise in consumer consumption and confidence. Jewellery consumption is the first to suffer and the last to recover when the economy experiences drastic fluctuations.

As demand from countries with high jewellery consumption such as the US drastically decreases in 2009, China’s processing and trade exports of diamonds, precious metals and others will greatly reduce. General trade exports of pearl, fashion accessories and coloured gemstones will also face challenges.

According to estimates, China processes more than 100 million pieces of jewellery and gems every year. Jewellery supply is expected to considerably exceed demand in 2009, and competition among related enterprises will intensify.

The situation has thus far not developed this way, however. From October 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, under the influence of the global financial crisis triggered by the US sub-mortgage crisis, there was a marked decline in major diamond markets such as Europe, the US and Japan. However, Chinese diamond markets are maintaining relatively fast growth, becoming the only region to maintain growth in diamond sales among the world’s major economies.

According to statistics released by De Beers, the largest diamond producer in the world, in this financial tsunami, it has experienced a cold winter for sales in major markets such as Europe and the US. In China, however, the company’s diamond sales grew by over 15 per cent against the general trend.