According to Chow Sang Sang Jewelry's Causeway Bay branch manager surnamed Yip, the branch has experienced a rise of 30 percent in its number of mainland customers in December alone.

"The number of the local tourists has remained unchanged. But the number of mainland tourists has risen by 30 percent. They mainly like to purchase 18-karat gold ornaments and Italian necklaces, although most of them go for diamonds," he said, adding that such ornaments have been the favorites of the mainland tourists in the past few years.

Another company, Luk Fook Holdings (International) Ltd, has also recorded a 30-percent jump in customers during the Christmas Season, with mainlanders accounting for 20 to 30 percent of its customer base.

"On average, the mainland tourists spend a few hundreds to HK$ 5,000 (US$ 640). They mainly love to purchase diamonds, but they buy gold as well," said the manager of the Causeway Bay branch of Luk Fook Holdings (International Ltd), who is surnamed Fung.

Asked about the style of the ornaments the mainland tourists like, Fung said their taste is quite in-trend, similar to that of the local Hong Kong people.

Last year's statistics from China's diamond industry showed a 40-percent rise in the country's market demand. With an annual worth of 10 billion yuan (US$ 1.3 billion) being created, China ranked second in the world in diamond processing and market sales volume, the People's Daily reported earlier.

Meanwhile, the World Gold Council and its local partners plan to launch a larger campaign to promote gold jewelry in China's mainland in early 2002, with Shanghai as the center.

"We have selected Shanghai as a major city in Asia to promote the new image of gold jewelry," said Helen Mao, the council's regional manager for eastern China.

Analysts forecast a huge growth in demand for gold in China, where 102.5 tons were consumed in 2000.

( December 28, 2001)