The generic promotion of natural diamonds by the Indian diamond trade in the Chinese market in association with the largest jewellery retail chain in China Chow Tai Fook and De Beers has failed to enthuse Chinese consumers to buy the rock. The trade had raised Rs 15 crore through crowdfunding for the generic promotion of natural diamonds across the key international markets.
The spread of the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) virus in China has created further uncertainty for Indian diamond exporters because they have witnessed a significant fall in diamond consumption in China after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are trying our best to revive the Chinese market. But we have not received a single order from China despite all our efforts. The generic promotion of natural diamonds is going on in China. We’re hoping that it shows some results going ahead. But as of now, we have not seen any impact of the campaign,” said Vipul Shah, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman. GJEPC is representing the Indian diamond industry in the generic campaign that has been launched in China.
China accounts for around a third of India’s cut and polished diamond exports and primarily buys through Hong Kong. India is the world’s largest centre for cutting and polishing diamonds, accounting for nine out of 10 diamonds polished globally.
Paul Rowley, Executive Vice President, Diamond Trading, De Beers Group, who is currently in India, told ET that China demand is likely to go up in the second half of 2025. “In the last eighteen months, China has hardly bought any diamonds. The Chinese diamond retailers have stocks that may last for another six months. From the second half of 2025, China is expected to buy the rock.”
During the pandemic years, distressed Chinese households, which had been earnestly purchasing the precious stone over the decade, discovered to their dismay that diamonds, unlike gold, did not fetch the resale value when they needed it the most. As more and more Chinese turned towards a more fungible asset like gold, diamond demand from China, once accounting for about one-third of the cut and polished diamond market, shrank. Now, efforts are underway to woo them back.
“We are using every marketing channel to revive confidence among Chinese buyers in natural diamonds,” Shah said.
A leading diamond exporter said that the new fear in the trade is the spread of HMPV in China and other parts of the world as sell.
The exports of cut & polished diamonds in the period April to November of FY25 have declined by 18.8 per cent to US$ 8980.2 million as compared to for the same period of the previous year.
