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[SPEAKING CHINESE]
There are some requirements, not very complicated,
for companies who would like to be members of SDE.
The first requirement is that the company
must be a diamond company that has engaged in, and been
familiar with, the diamond jewelry industry for at least
three years.
Secondly, the company must be introduced by two current SDE
members, according to the rules of international diamond hubs.
The new member must also go through a one year probationary
period.
Third is a financial requirement.
A mandatory one-time admission fee
of 20,000 US dollars, which is quite reasonable according
to international rules.
The admission fee is refundable if a member company
wants to cancel its membership due to lack
of business success or some other reason.
Of course, another important condition
is that Chinese law requires that a diamond
company registering in China must be approved by the Diamond
Administration of China, DAC.
The company is allowed to operate an import and export
business and participate in customs, tax administration,
and the Kimberley Process after approval and licensing
by the DAC.
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[SPEAKING CHINESE]
In the past decade, domestic and international diamond markets
have changed a lot.
And the upstream diamond industry
has also gone through huge changes.
De Beers once controlled 80% of the rough diamond supply.
But now its share has decreased to less than 30%.
With other diamond suppliers like Rio
Tinto, BHP, and ALROSA also supplying rough.
The effects have been stable prices
and diversified rough supplies, which totally changed the world
diamond situation.
The changing situation has also affected
China, which is the second largest diamond manufacturing
and consumption country in the world.
The United States is the largest diamond consumption country,
with a very mature market after more than 100 years
of development.
China has only a 20 year history of growing a diamond market.
As a thriving new market with a diversity of sources,
China offers more opportunity for manufacturers
and retailers.
More powerful companies are willing to go abroad and invest
in diamond mining.
One successful recent case is of a Chinese enterprise invested
in diamond mining in Zimbabwe and in rough diamond importing.
A second big change is the consumption market,
where earlier wedding-diamond demand has gradually
expanded into multi-consumption needs.
With older people becoming an important consumption group.
One more big change is the rise of e-commerce.
I'm happy to say that one famous e-commerce diamond
company, Blue Nile, has become a member of SDE
and successfully engaged with the Chinese market.
Also, I met the boss of Blue Nile last year in this room.
At the same time, many Chinese diamond enterprises
sell diamonds online.
Zbird is a well known e-commerce diamond company
with 500 employees and annual sales of 0.2 billion US
dollars.
It was a small company a decade ago,
established by a brother and sister team.
What's more, the diamond manufacturing industry
has also changed a lot.
10 years ago, our manufacturing was in its early stages,
invested in by overseas companies.
Now diamond manufacturing, polishing,
and mounting operations have developed
completely in Guangdong, as well as Shangdong, Shanghai, Jurong,
[? Seuong, ?] Guangxi and other locations.
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[SPEAKING CHINESE]
The SDE is a totally open platform,
welcoming diamond dealers from all over the world.
As I mentioned, the Chinese diamond market is very large,
and we also hope the Chinese diamond
enterprises will do business abroad.
Here we provide a good platform for communication
between domestic and overseas companies.
We have more than 300 companies in the SDE,
including more than 200 that are foreign
owned-- mainly from Belgium, Israel, and India.
These members have developed and done very well in SDE
since its establishment 13 years ago.
I want to tell something to those
who want to do diamond business in China
and do not know much about the Chinese market
and its policies.
First, you should meet and get to know
SDE members at jewelry shows.
SDE is a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses,
WFDB, whose members are from the United States, Europe, Africa,
and South America-- making it a very big network.
It will be easy for a diamond company that is already
a member of WFDB-- for instance, if you are a member of a USA
diamond bourse-- to find a member
to provide you with information.
What's more, if you have no previous experience
but want to do diamond business in China,
two information channels are offered.
One of them is the website of the Diamond Administration
of China, DAC, which belongs to the government.
The other is the SDE where you can also
find some basic information.
Other sources are the shows and direct visits
to SDE, which are warmly welcomed.
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