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Jewelry sales in China are booming and the country has become the largest consumer of platinum, according to the China Gem Association.
As the economy develops and living conditions improve, jewelry has become more popular among China's ordinary people.
The annual sales of jewelry have increased from 200 million RMB yuan (US$24.18 million) in the early 1980s to 80 billion RMB yuan (US$9.67 million) in 2001.
The number of people working in jewelry production rose from 20,000 in the early 1980s to the present three million. The number of jewelry businesses has reached 3,000, nearly 300 of which have annual sales of around 100 million RMB yuan (US$12.1 million).
Annual sales of diamonds and pearls have reached 9 billion (US$1.088 billion) and 6 billion RMB yuan (US$725.5 million) respectively in the domestic market.
In 2001, China imported 40 tons of platinum, some 55 percent of the world's total output. The value of its annual consumption of platinum exceeds 2 billion US dollars last year, ranking the first in the world for the third year in a row.
According to the China Gem Association, in 2010, annual domestic sales for the Chinese jewelry industry will reach 180 billion RMB yuan (US$21.77 billion), with export sales tipped at US$5 billion.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)
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