China's jewelry sector is expected to sparkle by more than 40
percent in five years on the back of the country's sizzling
economy.
Sales of diamond, gold, platinum and other jewelry are set to
top 200 billion yuan (US$25 billion) in China by 2010, Yang Sisan,
secretary general of Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China,
said yesterday in Shanghai.
"China's jewelry market will post a sound growth, above the
blistering economic growth in the future," Yang said.
The country's jewelers raked in sales of 140 billion yuan in
2005, a year- on-year rise of 15 percent, according to the
Beijing-based association, whose more than 1,000 members hold close
to 80 percent of the market.
Shanghai, China's biggest jewelry market, posted jewelry sales
of 13 billion yuan last year, taking almost 10 percent of the
country's total.
The National Gemstone Testing Center, the country's top jewelry
examining body, will also open a Shanghai laboratory to help boost
the Shanghai market.
The 1,000-square-meter lab, which is scheduled to open on May 8,
will give jewelers and consumers an official platform to settle
disputes over quality of jewelry products.
A similar lab has already been set up in Shenzhen, the country's
jewelry processing center. The association will also hold the
biggest jewelry fair in east China in Shanghai annually together
with the country's gold and diamond exchanges to further boost the
city's position as the nation's major jewelry center.
The fair, which will cover 23,000 square meters, will be more
than double the scale of former fairs in the city with more big
names in the industry slated to take part.
A new rule, which analysts say is expected within a month, that
will cut the value-added tax on diamonds from 17 percent to 4
percent is likely to boost the market in the country.
(Shanghai Daily April 29, 2006)