Key facts
- Shenzhen's Shuibei district is China's largest and most advanced gold and jewelry cluster.
- Shuibei accounts for over 70% of China's annual gold trading volume and 80% of rough diamond imports.
- Jewelry exports from Shenzhen reached 18 billion yuan in 2024, up 35% year-on-year.
- Hong Kong aims to become an international gold trading center, supported by China's consumer market and its own vaulting infrastructure.
Beijing is pursuing a strategy to internationalize the yuan by developing a gold-backed monetary architecture, with Hong Kong playing a key role in its offshore vaulting infrastructure. This initiative is further supported by the booming Chinese consumer market for gold.
Shenzhen's Shuibei district stands as China's largest and most comprehensive gold and jewelry hub. It has transformed from an original equipment manufacturer base in the 1980s into a "Jewelry Capital" with a fully integrated industrial chain covering design, trading, brand operations, and testing. Shuibei is a global destination for raw materials, hosting approximately 7,000 legal entities in the sector and over 40 well-known domestic brands, employing more than 70,000 industry professionals. The district's specialized markets handle over 70 percent of China's annual gold trading volume and 80 percent of its rough diamond imports.
Daily operations in Shuibei involve the processing, authentication, exhibition, and trading of a wide range of jewelry, primarily gold, but also including jade, pearls, silver, and diamonds. A significant portion of these goods are exported globally through offline wholesale, cross-border e-commerce, and live-streaming retail. In 2024, jewelry exports processed through Shenzhen Customs reached 18 billion yuan, marking a 35% year-on-year increase. The Shenzhen International Jewelry & Jade Comprehensive Trade Platform alone handled 7 billion yuan in import and export value in the same year, reinforcing Shuibei's position as a "Global Capital of Jewelry Brands."