Archive

  • On May 5, Shanghai, at the Launch Ceremony of the “2023 Shanghai Diamond & Jewelry Culture Festival” and the “Shanghai May Shopping Festival” jointly organized by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and Pudong New Area Government, Shanghai Diamond Price Index (SDPI) was determined by the National Gems & Jewelry Testing Co. Ltd. (NGTC) jointly with Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) and Gem & Jewelry Trade Association of China (GAC) officially released it.

  • The Chinese conglomerate Fosun, best known as being the largest shareholder of insurer Ageas, is considering selling its majority stake in International Gemological Institute (IGI). The deal could value the Antwerp-based diamond evaluator at around 200 million euros, the Bloomberg news agency learned from sources close to the file.
    In October, Fosun announced that it plans to sell up to $11 billion in assets to improve its liquidity position. In addition, Fosun would now, together with Deutsche Bank, evaluate the possibility of selling its 80 percent stake in IGI.

  • The Chinese National Gemstone Testing Center (or NGTC for short) has issued the first digital certificates (or e-Certificate) for their strategic partner, Chow Taifook (or CTF for short). This is an important step for NGTC’s digitizing transformation. By downloading the NGTC APP or using the WeChat Applet, a user only needs to scan the NGTC certificate code to retrieve the NGTC digital certificate immediately.

  • Since March 2022, both the polished diamond import and diamond retail market have taken a toll from a new wave of Covid-19 pandemic in China, as the local administrations nationwide have strengthened preventive and control measures.

  • Israel-based diamond tech company Sarine Technologies and the Chinese state lab National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC) announced a partnership that includes Sarine’s light performance technology (“Sarine Light”) has resulted in a co-branded new industry standard for this grading feature on the Chinese market. NGTC will include the light performance grading in its grading reports.

  • The Financial Times reports that the Angolan Government has blocked and taken over the 18% stake of the Chinese company LLI (part of Sonangol) in Catoca. The Government now holds 59% of shares in Angola’s largest mine through IGAPE, the state body managing govt shareholding in companies active in the country. The move is considered another step in President Lourenço’s reform policy, reducing the interdependence with China that was established under the Dos Santos regime, when deals between Angola and China, especially in the oil business, were booming.

  • According to the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE), the net import of polished diamonds through the SDE in 2021 reached another record high, reflecting the potential and resilience of the Chinese diamond market. Total net polished import reached US$2.924 billion, surging 105.3% year-on-year of 2020, and up 58.0% from 2019. The SDE is the only portal in China to import polished diamonds under the favorable tax policy of 0% tariff and 4% Value Added Tax (VAT), therefore the figure reflects the value of polished diamonds imported for consumption in China.