With the World Jewellery Confederation staging the CIBJO Congress this year’s for the first time in mainland China, it acknowledges the central role played the world’s second largest economy in the global jewellery business, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said in his opening address to gathering

The congress is taking place between November 2 and November at the Shangri-La Quintan in Shanghai

China saw dramatic growth in its consumer markets in the period following the so-called Great Recession, which followed the global 2007-8 financial crisis, when relative to the majr Western markets it was relatively unscathed.

“The belief at the time, or more accurately I would say the hope at the time, was that there would be no limit – sales and revenues would be keeping on climbing, as more and more Chinese consumers became enraptured by the lure of fine jewellery,” Dr. Cavalieri said.

“And that might have been the case,” he continued, “at least for a while longer, were it not for an almost invisible threat that took over all our lives in 2020 – the COVID virus. In the space of just months the world shut down, and it would be about two years before we returned to a sense of normality.”

“While the accelerated growth rates of the 2010s are almost certainly behind us, China continues to outpace most other developed markets – and, yes, I think it is correct in 2024 to refer to China as a developed market – rather than simply a developing market,” Dr Cavalieri said.

China is today the world’s largest consumer of coloured gemstones, gold and platinum gold jewellery, and unsurprisingly of jade, or Fei Cui as it is popularly referred to, the CIBJO President stated.

“But what also is significant is that China, like India, is shifting from being a country that manufactures goods that are designed or inspired by mainly Western players, to becoming a trendsetter in its own right, influencing what is being bought worldwide, and exporting its intellectual capital and not only its production capacity,” he noted.

“It’s no longer wrong to state that the single-lane highway of taste and knowledge moving eastward has become a dual carriage way moving in both directions, where Chinese and other Eastern trends and innovations find equally receptive markets in the traditional Western consumer centres. We live in a unified global market,” Dr Cavalieri said.

“To optimize its potential, much of what do here at the CIBJO Congress is of critical importance,” Dr. Cavalieri stressed.

“We believe passionately in the potential of the products we manufacture and sell, in the timeless beauty of the gems and precious metals of which they are comprised, and in the genius and artistry of the men and women who create the final products. In our hearts we know that these are objects of great value. But we also understand that this value is maintained as a result of an unwritten contract between ourselves and our consumers,” he continued.

“If we do not honour that contract, if we do not protect the trust they place in us, then the value of the jewellery – the prices, the revenues and profits – are all worth very little.”

 Dr. Cavalieri said that what will be discussed over the coming three days, in the 18 sessions that will follow the Opening Ceremony, are the building blocks of the barricades we construct to protect and defend consumer confidence.

“These are the creation of standards, operating principles and universally understood nomenclature that ensure that, in an industry with supply chains that cross multiple borders, we understand each other, and work together to ensure the integrity of our products,” he said.

“These building blocks are created and maintained by our various commissions, committees and working groups, and are articulated and described in the various Blue Books and guidance documents they produce.”

The cement that holds these blocks together can be found in CIBJO’s educational programmes, operating under the umbrella of WJCEF, the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation, and now in the recently established CIBJO Academy, whose mission is to communicate and teach about what is done within CIBJO, to the global industry and marketplace.

“The resilience and hardiness of the building blocks are ensured by our reputation and the image that we project – not simply because we say so, but because of how we behave and are seen to behave – as an industry that not only is concerned about not doing harm, but also about providing sustainable opportunities to all our stakeholders,” Dr.Cavalieri said.

The CIBJO President paid tributed to the congress hosts – DonghaoLansheng, the China Gem and Jade Exchange and the Diamond & Gem Administration of China. He also thanked the supporters in India, including the National Gems & Jewellery Testing Group, NGTC, and the Gem and Jewellery Trade Association of China, as well as the Government of Shanghai, and the generous sponsors, “who proved once again their absolute commitment to the jewellery industry and its people”  – the Italian Exhibition Group, the De Beers Group, the World Gold Council, Gemfields, Fuli Gemstones, the Platinum Guild, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange and the Natural Diamond Council.”

TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE CIBJO PRESIDENT’S OPENING ADDRESS, CLICK HERE.