Belgian Antwerp and Chinese Shanghai celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of sister-city ties with a spectacular show in Shanghai fashion apparel with diamond accessories. An exclusive evening was organized by the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC).
Antwerp fashion designers Ann Demeulemeester, Haider Ackermann and Jean-Paul Lespagnard demonstrated a number of unique ornaments that they carefully selected from their collection specifically for the "Diamond Night" in Shanghai. Jewelry with diamonds from Antwerp, which provided the diamond company Casa Gi, added shine to the fashionable clothes shown on the podium. The sponsor of the event was Silk Road Diamonds.
"China is the fastest growing diamond market," Margoux Donckieg, spokeswoman for AWDC, said in this regard.
In 2013, Antwerp exported 1.8 million carats of diamonds worth $ 3.7 billion to China and Hong Kong. This success can be explained by the fact that Chinese newlyweds associate the diamond ring with well-being in marriage. The growing popularity of diamonds is also due to the growth of the Chinese jewelery market as a whole.
Today it is estimated at $ 75 billion, and by 2015 it will reach, according to experts, more than $ 100 billion and will be equal to the level of the US by 2020.
During their stay in Shanghai, AWDC representatives signed a number of memorandums of understanding with the Shanghai Diamond Exchange aimed at intensifying cooperation between the two shopping centers in the coming years.