Hong Kong's jewelry retail market has largely been boosted by the implementation of the mainland's Individual Visit Scheme in 2003 which has seen a sharp increase in the number of mainland tourists visiting the city.

They have become a critical source of revenue for the city's retailers and made up a third of watch and jewelry retail sales in Hong Kong in 2010, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The latest official data show that sales of jewelry, watches and valuable gifts totaled HK$ 7.84 billion in July, 51.8 percent more than a year ago. The market is shared by a dazzling array of jewelry retailers from home and abroad. Among the major local retailers are Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, Luk Fook, Tse Sui Luen, 3D-Gold, Imperial, King Fook, Ma Belle and Madia etc. Following Chow Tai Fook, which boasts annual revenue of more than HK$30 billion, Chow Sang Sang raked in HK$11.7 billion in jewelry sales in the year to Decemer 2010, while Luk Fook recorded revenue of HK$8.1 billion for the year ended March 2011.

However, the jewelry industry of Hong Kong is by and large export-oriented. The city is the world's fourth largest exporter of fine jewelry after Italy, the US and Switzerland. Approximately HK$34.6 billion worth of precious jewelry was shipped overseas last year, up 21 percent from 2009.

The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), signed in 2003, has given all products of Hong Kong origin, including jewelry, tariff-free treatment starting from January 1, 2006.

-China Daily

(HK Edition 10/08/2011 page2)