Chinese Economy/Development thread (updated regularly)

[CardSharp]

China sits on up to $1.5bn in copper profits

Nations make the best traders. They have real clout in the markets and their intelligence network can be turned on to the markets.

The soviets were excellent currency and agricultural commodities traders.

 

[cloneman]

Chinese dominate list of richest women
FT.com / Asia-Pacific - Chinese dominate list of richest women
By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

Published: October 12 2010 01:01 | Last updated: October 12 2010 02:09

More than half the world’s richest self-made women are Chinese, thanks in large part to the Communist party’s ending of the worst of gender discrimination in the country, according to the Hurun Report, which compiles information on the wealthiest Chinese.

The world’s three richest women are Chinese – as are 11 of the top 20 – according to the Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires, published on Tuesday
Zhang Yin, 53, the Chinese head of a recycled paper company, Nine Dragons Paper, ranks as the wealthiest self-made woman on earth with an estimated personal fortune of $5.6bn. Wu Yajun, 46, of Longfor Property, comes in second with $4.1bn and Chen Lihua, 69, of Fuhua International, a Hong Kong conglomerate, ranks third with $4bn.

The richest non-Chinese is Spaniard Rosalia Mera of Zara, the fashion house, with $3.5bn, and two others who made their fortunes in fashion: Doris Fisher for Gap is eighth and Giuliana Benetton of Benetton is 11th.

Oprah Winfrey, the US television show host, ranks ninth with $2.3bn.

Nandani Lynton, of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, identified political and social factors for making a scrap paper lady from China richer than the doyennes of Zara, Gap, Benetton and Ebay.

“Mao made an incredible difference when he said women hold up half the sky, since then it has been assumed that all women in China will work,” Ms Lynton said.

Chinese women are also among the most ambitious on earth, according to a study from the Centre for Work-Life Policy in New York, which found 76 per cent of women in China aspired to top jobs, compared with 52 per cent in the US.

Working mothers in China and other Bric countries “are able to aim high, in part because they have more shoulders to lean on than their American and European peers when it comes to childcare”, the centre noted. With an average work week of 71 hours for Chinese women, cheap childcare is essential, and in China is often provided by grandparents – four for every only child.

Nandani Lynton noted that it was not just the availability of cheap or free childcare but also the absence of any stigma attached to using it that helped Chinese women dominate the global rich lists.

Still, compared to Chinese men, women still lag behind. According to Hurun, only 11 per cent of the richest people in China are women and the average wealth of China’s top 50 richest women is only a third that of the top 50 richest men.

 

[no_name]

We wouldn't want to discriminate women, why close off half of the possibilities?

 

[CardSharp]

We wouldn't want to discriminate women, why close off half of the possibilities?

and it is morally reprehensible.

 

[Brotherhood]

3Q foreign exchange reserves may top $2.5t - People's Daily OnlineOctober 13, 2010

China's currency holdings may have hit a record $2.5 trillion by the end of the third quarter, fueling concerns over possible yuan strengthening.

The nation's foreign exchange reserves are likely to jump by roughly $48 billion in the third quarter, compared to a gain of $7 billion in the second quarter, according to a median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

This would take the nation's currency holdings - already the largest in the world - to a new high.

By the end of June, Mainland China's foreign exchange assets totaled $2.45 trillion, according to the People's Bank of China.

Exact third quarter data will be released by People's Bank later this week.

Accelerating growth, as seen via a growing trade surplus in recent months compared to the second quarter, could make currency holdings climb at a faster pace, said Chang Jian, a Hong Kong-based economist with Barclays Capital.

Figures measuring short-term capital inflows released by the central bank have seen a sharp increase in August from July, which will also lead to an up tick in currency holdings, Chang added.

This would add to pressure on yuan appreciation, the Barclays Capital economist said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently renewed the call for faster yuan moves at the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington last week.

In response, China will allow visible yuan appreciation as a way of avoiding a trade war, Wang Tao, head of China economic research at USSecurities said in a note distributed Monday.

The yuan will not continue the strong gains seen over the past few weeks, Barclays Capital's Chang said.

The yuan is expected to land at around 6.6 to the dollar at the end of the year, she believes.

Source: Global Times

 

[CardSharp]

I think an appreciation in the Yuan will have both pluses and minuses. One plus that I haven't seen mentioned really is the fact that more capital will stay at home if a steady appreciation is expected.

 

[Brotherhood]

AMD to build second global center in Beijing - People's Daily OnlineOctober 13, 2010

AMD China, the wholly-owned holding subsidiary of the world's leading chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (AMD), signed a memorandum with the Beijing municipal government Oct 12.

It is expected that AMD will make plans during the next few years to establish its second global center in Beijing to support the US headquarters and drive local information industry growth.

"The new global center represents AMD's growing responsibility to China. AMD will continue with its commitment to growing together with the nation," said Bruce Claflin, AMD board chairman.

According to the memorandum, AMD China will strengthen cooperation with IT partners in Beijing to help them improve their innovation capabilities and global competitiveness.

AMD China will partner with original-equipment manufacturing (OEM) enterprises to participate in major information construction programs in Beijing, contributing to the city's international metropolitan development strategy. The programs center on triple-network convergence, supercomputer center, data center and the internet of things. The Beijing government will provide policy support as required.

Support for new industry

Zhongguancun, known as China's Silicon Valley, is building a demonstration area for new industries, including cloud computing and the internet of things. "Our cooperation will provide a great platform for high-tech companies," said Guo Hong, director of the Admin Committee of Zhongguancun.

In 2005, AMD set up its Greater China head office in Zhongguancun, Beijing. As the first global leader in the semiconductor industry, it triggered an influx of the world's best technologies and innovation resources to Beijing.

As the company prospered, AMD spared no efforts in bolstering high-tech industries in China. From the free transfer of its low power x86 microprocessor core technology to strong support in the creation of Dawning 4000A and 5000A - two supercomputers capable of 10 and 100 teraflops peak performance a second, respectively - AMD helped make China a superpower in computing.

The company also contributed to building local education systems and recruiting high-tech talent, partnering with Lenovo and Founder to develop competitive products.

"It is apparent that China will continue to be one of our largest markets and home to a great number of employees. We have already achieved strong success in this market, and to demonstrate our commitment to continued growth and support of this region, it is natural that we plan to establish over time a second global center in Beijing to support our US headquarters," said Karen Guo, AMD senior vice-president and president of Greater China.

AMD is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play.

The company now has a research and development (R&D) center in Shanghai, the company's largest R&D center outside the US, and a leading TMP (test, mark and pack) facility in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Source:China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

China likely to lead world in wind power by year-end: Report - People's Daily OnlineOctober 13, 2010

China is likely to surpass the United States as the leader in cumulative wind power capacity by the end of this year, a Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) official said on Tuesday.

"Wind power technology provides governments with a viable option for truly tackling the challenges of our time and for being part of the energy revolution our planet needs," GWEC Secretary-General Steve Sawyer told a news conference. He added that political commitment is needed to make this happen.

An earlier GWEC report showed global wind power capacity grew 31 percent, a 37.5-gigawatt (gW) increase to 157.9 gW in 2009. A third of the increase came from China, which doubled its capacity from 12.1 gW to 25.1 gW. The US contributed nearly 10 gW of new capacity in 2009, reaching 35 gW.

The GWEC also forecast an increase of up to 10 times China's currently installed capacity by 2020, up from 25.1 gW at the end of 2009.

China is the world's largest wind power market and home to the world's largest wind turbine manufacturing industry, according to GWEC and Greenpeace International, which released a global wind energy outlook report on Tuesday.

Wind could meet 12 percent of global power demand by 2020 and up to 22 percent by 2030, according to the two organizations' research. The reports were based on existing projections, policy measures and governments' renewable energy commitments.

The rapid growth in wind power will not only satisfy the world's increasing power demands but also achieve major greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as the power sector is the largest emission source.

It is forecast that the installation of wind power capacity will reach 1,000 gW by 2020, saving as much as 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. By 2030, a total of 34 billion tons of CO2 will be saved by 2,300 gW of wind power capacity.

In addition to environmental benefits, wind energy is becoming a substantial factor in economic development, providing more than 600,000 jobs in direct and indirect employment.

"In 2010, the 600,000 workers of the wind industry put up a new wind turbine every 30 minutes," said Sven Teske, a senior energy expert at Greenpeace International.

"One in three of those turbines was erected in China. By 2030, the market could be three times bigger than today. A new turbine every seven minutes - that's our goal."

Source:China Daily

 

[cloneman]

China should increase high tech exports, says official
China should increase high tech exports, says official - People's Daily Online
China has to increase the proportion of high-tech products in its total exports of machinery and electronic products in a bid to boost the country's competitiveness and snare a larger international market share, an official for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Friday.

China's exports of machinery and electronic products rebounded during the first half of 2010, and the entire year's exports of such products may hit or even exceed the 2008 levels seen before the financial crisis, said Zhang Ji, chief director of the Department of Mechanical, Electronic and Hi-Tech Industry of the MOC.

But Zhang said the proportion of high-tech products in the country's exports of machinery and electronic products remains small. In fact, the country still relies on imports of much high-end equipment.

China exported machinery and electronic products worth 416.97 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, up 35.9 percent year on year.

At the same time, the country's imports of such products rose 45.5 percent to 302.64 billion U.S. dollars during this same period.

Source:Xinhua

---------- Post added at 04:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------

China passes the EU in High-tech exports

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-09-025/EN/KS-SF-09-025-EN.PDF

 

[中国万岁-ProsperThroughCo-]

4 trillion yuan to boost key industries

Next 5-year plan aims for 'inclusive growth'
Cary Huang in Beijing
Oct 15, 2010

Beijing will spend more than 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.6 trillion) on several key industries and inland regions as part of the new five-year economic plan, according to two officials involved in its drafting.
The central government will also lower the economic growth rate and focus more on structural adjustments in its blueprint for 2011 to 2015.

While it appears to duplicate the 4 trillion yuan stimulus package adopted two years ago to cushion the economy from the impact of the global financial crisis, the new programme also aims at achieving what President Hu Jintao recently coined as "inclusive growth" - which essentially refers to a more balanced approach to growth, according to economic planners.

Communist Party leaders will meet today for their annual four-day session at the Jingxi Hotel in western Beijing, where debate and formal approval of a draft of the nation's 12th Five-Year Programme is expected to top the agenda.

The current five-year plan ends this year and a draft of the next one, which outlines the principles rather than gives specifics, will be considered by more than 350 Central Committee members and alternate members who attend the gathering.

The final document will be worked out by the government in the coming months before Premier Wen Jiabao tables it for official endorsement at March's annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Both officials said the government would spend more than 4 trillion yuan in the five-year period to provide financial support, including tax cuts and exemptions, to nine key industries - new energy, new materials, information technology, biology and new medicine, energy conservation and environmental protection, aerospace, marine, advanced manufacturing, and hi-tech services industries.

"More money will be spent in support of the development of these key industries, seen to be strategically significant for the national economy and to upgrade its competitive margin on the global stage," said Liu Qin , deputy director of the Xian Municipal Development and Reform Commission. As a regional planner, Liu and other regional officials are involved in the drafting of the local and national five-year plans. The other planning official declined to be named.

The next five-year plan would focus on two categories, industries and regions, which marked a significant shift from the past development strategy of concentrating on growth, Liu said. These areas would be the two main targets of Beijing's investment policy.

The central government has approved several regional economic zones and urban expansion plans in the past two years.

The government was also working on a plan to replace its 10-year Go-West programme, which would expire by the end of the year, said Liu, who also heads Xian's municipal office in charge of the Go-West programme. According to Liu, these regional development plans will be incorporated into the national master five-year plan.

Industry and Information Technology Minister Li Yizhong said last week the nation's industrial sector would focus on structural adjustment and transformation during the 12th five-year plan.

Li said his ministry would strengthen work on saving energy and reducing emissions, speed up elimination of backward production capacity, promote high technology and industrial upgrading, and encourage companies to improve product quality and create their own brands.

Hu's new "inclusive growth" catch-phrase would be included in the 12th five-year plan document, planning officials said.

In a speech to an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Beijing last month, Hu said the goal of "inclusive growth" was to spread the wealth generated by economic growth among all and to achieve balance in economic and social progress.

"Inclusive growth" was different from the break-neck, winner-takes-all and no-matter-the-cost pursuit of growth that was the norm of most major economies; rather, it was an economic growth pattern that would benefit every citizen in the nation, even the poorest.

Government economists said Beijing would increase funding for subsidised housing, medical care reform, education and other social welfare.

International institutions also said changing the growth model was expected to be the main theme of the coming five-year plan.

The International Monetary Fund said the Chinese economy was gearing up to change its growth model from an export-driven economy to one driven by domestic consumption.

"There has been a growing recognition within the top leadership that the old growth model is no longer sustainable, not just economically but also politically," Ma Jun, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank, said. "We expect the forthcoming plan to focus less on growth rates and more on structural adjustments."

Goldman Sachs expects the five-year plan to be an extension of major themes in the current plan, with some new focus areas. It identified five top themes: income redistribution and social welfare; improving consumption; industry efficiency and resource conservation; research and development and hi-tech upgrades; and urbanisation and inland migration.

Unlike the current stimulus package, which was aimed at boosting growth amid the global downturn, the new plan would target sustainable and balanced growth at the sacrifice of the speed of growth, economists said.

The two-year stimulus plan in late 2008 announced unprecedented bank lending that helped the nation post annualised growth of about 10 per cent during the crisis and helped it leapfrog Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world.

However, planners and economists said the central government would lower the annual GDP growth target from 7.5 per cent in 2006-10 to 7 per cent in 2011-15. They expect the actual economic growth in the period to exceed the goal, but it will be difficult for China to achieve two-digit growth.

Citigroup, in a recent report, said it expected Beijing to slow down the GDP annual rate along the same lines.

JPMorgan forecast annual growth rate would reach 8 per cent during the 12th Five-Year Programme period.

The beneficiaries

Key industries that will gain from Beijing’s 4 trillion yuan injection in the new five-year plan:

New energy
New materials
Information technology
Biology and new medicine
Energy conservation and environmental protection
Aerospace
Marine
Advanced manufacturing
Hi-tech services

 

[Brotherhood]

China's first 5-megawatt wind turbine debuts | China business newsOct 14th, 2010

Sinovel Wind Group Company, the largest wind power generator manufacturer in China, officially announced on Oct. 13 that they have completed production of an independently-developed 5-megawatt wind turbine has independently-owned intellectual property rights.

This is China’s first 5-megawatt wind turbine. In addition, the research and development of a 6-megawatt wind power generator is progressing smoothly, and production will begin in the first half of 2011.

With the development of China’s wind power industry — especially the launch of offshore wind power concession projects — it is inevitable that wind-power generators capable of producing 3 megawatts or more will become the standard nationwide. The development of 5 megawatt and above wind turbines are also a high-level manufacturing field in the world.

An official at Sinovel said that with the development of large wind turbines in China and the world, more efficient and more powerful units capable of producing 5 megawatts or more will certainly become the mainstream of the next generation and are widely used in land, on sea and in the intertidal zones as well as in different wind fields. Following the production of the 5-megawatt generators, Sinovel will continue to research and develop the wind turbines with even higher power.

Tao Gang, vice general manager of Sinovel, said that at the invitation to bid for offshore wind power projects involving 1 million kilowatts of power held by the National Energy Bureau, Sinovel won 60 percent of the share, including two coastal wind power projects in Binhai and Sheyang counties in Jiangsu Province, totaling 600,000 kilowatts.- People’s Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

Beijing's Q1-Q3 foreign trade grows by nearly 50 percent | China business news Oct 14th, 2010

China’s capital generated 221.8 billion U.S. dollars in foreign trade in the first three quarters of this year, a growth of 46.7 percent on the same period of last year, local customs house announced Thursday.

The amount, which surpassed the city’s total foreign trade volume of 214.8 billion U.S. dollar for the whole of 2009, included 40.7 billion dollars in export value, up 17.3 percent, and 181.1 billion dollars in import value, up 55.4 percent.

Leading trade partners of Beijing included the European Union, ASEAN members, the United States and Japan.

The city’s top export commodity was cell phone, and its top import commodity was crude oil.

From January to September, Beijing sold abroad 130 million cell phones, up 18.4 percent year on year, and bought 150 million tonnes of crude oil, up 26.2 percent year on year. - Xinhua

 

[DesiGuy]

The gap between China's imports and exports narrowed in September, official data has shown.

But analysts say the decline is unlikely to ease the pressure on Beijing to strengthen its currency.

The US has been among its strongest critics, claiming China deliberately undervalues the yuan, boosting China's exports by making them cheap.

China's trade surplus fell to a five-month low of $16.9bn (£10.7bn), down from $20bn in August.

Exports rose 25.1% year-on-year in September to $145bn, but the pace of growth was slower than the 34.4% growth seen in August.

Imports rose 24.1% year-on-year to a record high of $128.1bn, compared with August's growth of 35.2%.

'Plenty of scope'

Despite the trade data, Brian Jackson, senior strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, said that China would still be under pressure to let the yuan appreciate.

"I think the fact that their exports are still very strong suggests that there's plenty of scope for them to do more on the currency," he told the AFP news agency.

However, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner repeated his view that there would be no currency war, and the Chinese would allow the yuan to appreciate over time.

"We just want to make sure it's happening at a gradual but still significant rate," he said in an interview on US public service television.

The Chinese currency has gained 2.4% against the dollar since Beijing ended its fixed exchange rate in June.

The US cites its own trade balance with China as evidence that the yuan is undervalued.

The US and Europe have also emphasised the importance of a stronger yuan in rebalancing the global economy, increasing imports into developing economies like China.
Currency bill

The Chinese government has taken some steps to address its currency policy.

In June, China pledged to let the yuan trade more freely against the dollar. Since then it has advanced about 2% against the US currency.

But the US has pressed for China to do more to allow the yuan to appreciate.

The House of Representatives has backed a bill that treats undervalued currencies as illegal export subsidies, which could pave the way for trade sanctions on China.

Beijing has said it is "resolutely opposed" to the bill.

China's currency critics will also point to news that yuan reserves of the People's Bank of China have hit a new all-time high of $2.65tn.

That suggests investors are buying the yuan because they view it as undervalued and likely to rise in the future.

BBC News - China's trade surplus falls to $16.9bn

 

[Martian2]

Rising sales of LED backlights for LCD TVs are driving strong growth of Taiwan’s LED industry. Firms involved in the supply chain include: LED TV panel makers AUO, CMO, CPT; LED TV brand names Amstran, BenQ, CMO; LED chip makers Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy, Tekcore, Huga, Optotech, Lextar, Chi Mei Lighting; LED packagers Unity Opto, Everlight, Harvatek, LiteOn, LHTC, Wellypower; and LED lead frame producer I-Chiun (Photo Credit: Samsung)

Semiconductor Today

"Taiwan’s LED industry to grow 18% in 2011
13 October 2010
Semiconductor Today

Taiwan’s LED industry revenue is likely to grow 18% next year from this year’s estimated NT$86.4bn (US$2.7bn at US$1:NT$32) according to the government-backed Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA), reports the Taiwan Economic News (CENS).

According to the PIDA, Taiwan is currently the world's No. 1 LED supplier by volume and No. 2 by revenue. Of its 2010 revenue of NT$86.4bn, an estimated NT$54.4bn (US$1.7bn) will be generated by the packaging segment and NT$32bn (US$1bn) by the chip-making sector.

LED backlights for mobile phones remain the major revenue earner, accounting for 37% of the total, followed by 32% contributed by LED devices used in electronic equipment.

However, road sign, outdoor billboard and lighting applications will serve as the revenue growth engine. PIDA’s statistics show that LED road signs and billboards accounted for 20% of Taiwan`s LED industry revenue in 2009, up from 2008's 5%, while lighting application comprised 7% of the revenue in 2009, also up from 5% in 2008. The PIDA also points out that this year LED TV and other consumer electronics applications will begin driving demand for LEDs.

In conjunction with its plan to also build Taiwan into the world’s center of LED lighting modules and light sources, the government has developed a plan to boost the island's LED industry revenue more than six-fold from 2010 to NT$540bn (US$16.8bn) in 2015, creating 54,000 jobs for the industry.

Industry executives says that the strength of Taiwan’s LED industry lies in its complete processing chain manufacturing everything from epitaxial wafers and chips to packaging and modules. However, the industry’s weakness lies in its 80% dependence on imported manufacturing equipment and materials, it is noted.

The executives add that cooperation with mainland China is crucial to Taiwan’s LED industry in the light of the mainland's huge market for LED lighting projects. In addition, they urge the Taiwan government to offer lucrative incentives to users of LED lighting, in addition to coming up with industry standards for LED lighting."

Millions of LED street lights are being deployed in Taiwan. The supply chain involves: LED chips from BridgeLux, Cree, Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy, Nichia, Osram, SemiLEDs; LED packages from Everlight, LiteOn, AOT, Bright, Harvatek, Lustrous; LED thermal modules from TTIC, CCI, AVC, Neng Tyi, Lustrous, NeoPac Opto, Advanced Thermal Devices, AuguX; LED lamp poles from Toalux, Everready Precision; and LED street lamp systems from FITI, NeoPac Opto, Bright LED, TTIC, Advanced Thermal Devices, Harvatek, LEOTEK, Delta, TGI, Unity Opto, Neo-Neon, Tatung, Genius, Topco, Anteya, Yeong Li, Alliance Optotek, AuguX, Everlight

Taiwanese LED Makers Aggressively Expanding in Light of Bright Future | CENS.com - The Taiwan Economic News

"Taiwanese LED Makers Aggressively Expanding in Light of Bright Future
2010/04/13
...
The market potential of LED has also attracted the attention of major electronics firms on the island, many of which have bought into LED firms, including Hon Hai, AU Optronics, Inventec, Lite-On, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC). TSMC, for instance, has invested US$40 million in BridgeLux, a epitaxy-wafer maker in the U.S., thereby gaining a seat on the company`s board of directors. Some have set up their LED subsidiaries, such as AU Optronics.

Some local electronics firms have even set their sight on the market across Taiwan Strait.
Epistar, for instance, has teamed up with Lite-On and a Chinese home-appliances maker in setting up an LED firm in Changzhou of Jiangsu Province at cost of US$120 million, in addition to joining hands with UMC for investing US$16 million in an LED plant in Shandong Province. Powerchip, a memory-chip maker, has also resolved to invest US$15 million in establishing an LED firm in Xuzhou of Jiangsu Province.
...
As a result, market players foresees tremendous growth potential for the global LED market, now reaching only US$8 billion annually, in the coming years. Taiwan stands in a good stead to tap that potential, thanks to its well-established LED component industry, which ranks first place worldwide in output volume and second place in output value, trailing only Japan. Output value of Taiwan`s LED industry hit US$1.5 billion in 2008, for 20% of global market share.

Epistar, for instance, is the world`s largest red-light and the third largest blue-light LED epitaxy supplier, boasting over 50% global market share for LED TV back-lit device. Among the world`s top five LED firms, it is the only one specializing in upstream epitaxy production, with 1,100 patents including those still pending, firmly consolidating its global status.

(by Philip Liu)"

 

[中国万岁-ProsperThroughCo-]

SCMP
India fears losing diamonds dominance to China

Shaikh Azizur Rahman in New Delhi
Oct 16, 2010

India's dominant position as an exporting hub for international diamonds is facing a serious challenge from China.
At a global conference in Mumbai this week, experts also predicted that China could soon surpass India to become the world's largest diamond-processing country, which could eventually help China replace India as the world's largest polished-diamond exporter.

"China has almost caught up with India in its historic tussle between the two mighty growing economies," Chaim Even-Zohar, chairman of Tacy, an Israeli diamond-research agency, said at the conference.

"China is also making heavy inroads into Africa. It is buying up huge mines to get at more and more rough diamonds.

"All of this should be a wake-up call for Indian manufacturers."

India has a 7 per cent market share of the global diamond trade, according to figures for last year, and China has 6 per cent. "But this is expected to jump to 10 per cent and 11 per cent respectively by 2016," said Gareth Penny, former chief executive of the De Beers Group, the world's leading diamond exploration, mining and trading company.

Penny, a keynote speaker at the Mumbai conference, said the growth of the industry in China was faster and its global market share would exceed that of India within six years.

India has long been the world's largest diamond-processing hub, holding about 57 per cent of the world's cutting and polishing units. India also processes about 70 per cent of the world's diamonds. The country imports rough diamonds and re-exports most of them after processing them. Some are retained for domestic consumption.

India accounts for nearly 55 per cent of the world's net exports of cut and polished diamonds in value terms, 90 per cent in terms of pieces and 80 per cent in terms of carats.

The Indian processing industry accounts for about 75 per cent of the world's diamond exports and employs 900,000 people, making it the world's largest diamond-processing hub in terms of value and number of employees.

For some years, many Indian diamond-industry people have been worrying about China emerging as a big threat to India's near monopoly in the processing and exporting of polished diamonds.

This week the international experts at the Mumbai conference endorsed the fears, saying that China was coming out as a big player.

Even-Zohar said that even as India played "catch-up to China" in other industrial sectors, China had announced its arrival on the gems-and-jewellery sector by "ruthlessly conquering" huge African diamond mines.

"In 2008, China imported 26 million carats and exported 23 million carats," Even-Zohar said. "As an increased amount of African rough diamonds are now landing in China and the country is keen to expand its processing industry with modern infrastructure, it is set to be a leader.

"It was also noticed that diamonds were coming to India via China, which is startling. Indian manufacturers should sit up and take stock of the scenario."

Penny said that lower manufacturing cost was attracting multinationals to open production centres and offices in China, and Indian manufacturers needed to up their game if they wanted to stay ahead.

"The popularity of the Chinese goods has also started threatening the Indian market, and Indian manufacturers are finding it hard to compete against the rising swell of Chinese-made jewels, which are available at a lower price tag," he said.

Representatives from the Indian diamond industry have urged their government to intervene.

Chandrakant Sanghvi, chairman of India's Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said everyone in the industry was worried.

"China has recently begun locking up supplies of rough diamonds, increasing India's trouble," Sanghvi said. "We have urged the Indian government to procure rough diamonds directly from Africa, trying out some barter deals with African mining companies, if possible," Sanghvi said.

"We can help them set up diamond-processing factories in Africa in exchange for their rough diamonds. This deal must be attractive for them. [The] government should intervene immediately, to prevent losing foreign exchange revenue as well as keeping jobs. Lives of tens of thousands of people are involved in this trade in India."