Panyu has its work cut out to maintain shine

The slowdown of the jewelry processing and manufacturing industry in Panyu is "normal and actually beneficial for the industry's long-term development", said Li Zhiwei, director of the district's economic and trade promotion bureau.

"The industry maintained double-digit growth for many years. It's only normal that growth would slow," he said. "In the long run, the slowdown can force the industry to transform and upgrade."

Customization as opposed to mass production is the way to go, added Li Zhiwei, because more people are buying jewelry as an investment. And of course, there is e-commerce.

"E-commerce can reduce costs. We can ship products from factories directly to consumers, so our prices can be more competitive," he said. Some jewelry companies in Panyu have already opened stores on e-commerce platform Tmall, a B2C platform run by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Shawan Jewelry Industrial Park in Panyu has launched Worldmart*E, an e-commerce platform that provides services including bonded warehouses, import and export customs clearance, logistics and insurance.

As China has become the world's third-largest jewelry consumer, after the United States and Japan, jewelry companies in Panyu will further expand into the domestic market, Li Zhiwei said.

The annual Guangzhou Panyu Jewelry Cultural Festival, which runs this year from Nov 29 to Dec 3, will be a great opportunity to "build Panyu as a jewelry brand featuring its workers' great skills and high quality" and make its products better-known among ordinary consumers.

FACTBOX

Guangzhou's glittering edge

?Jewelry production companies more than 400

?Firms with annual trade of more than $100 million 7

?Firms with annual trade of more than $10 million 24

?Jewelry industry workers more than 70,000

?City's diamond trade in 2013 $3.59 billion

?Proportion of nation's diamond trade 33%