After Covid: China's Diamond Trade Surges
July 14, 21
(IDEX Online) - China's diamond trade is surging, as it bounces back from the pandemic and benefits from crackdowns on smugglers and money launderers.
The Shanghai Diamond Exchange (pictured) reports $3.82bn in total rough and polished transactions in the half-year to June, an increase of over 86 per cent on the same period in pre-Covid 2019.
Imports of polished goods came to $1.58bn, up by almost 50 per cent on the first half of 2019.
China, the biggest consumer market for diamonds after the USA, has reported zero Covid deaths since January and virtually no infections.
Its customs authorities have also seized $855m of smuggled diamonds in a nationwide crackdown, and the government has been taking decisive action against money laundering.
China has also seen its GDP rocket by a record 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 and the diamond industry is being buoyed by a weddings boom.
In addition, over 2.1 million new couples registered for marriage certificates in the first quarter, 37 per cent more than the same period in 2020.