BEIJING: China’s polished diamond imports have increased 4.9% to $7.02 billion last year, according to data from the China Customs Information Center quoted by Rough & Polished. Average price per carat rose 3.7% to $916. By weight, polished imports increased 1.2% to 7.7 million carats.
Meanwhile, polished exports suffered an 11% fall to $1.91 billion, which brought net polished imports to rise 12%, totaling $5.12 billion. Rough exports were up 11% to $30 million, while rough imports fell 13% to $666 million. This means that net rough imports were down 14% to $635 million. China’s net diamond account, representing total imports minus total exports, increased 9% to $5.75 billion, according to the report.
