Beneficiate diamonds, Africa told

Lovemore Chikova in SHANGHAI, China
A Chinese official has urged African countries to stop selling raw diamonds, saying they should beneficiate them to gain more value.

Former director-general of Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference Mr Zhao Qizheng said this on Saturday at a press conference with African and South East Asian journalists here.

“Please, do process your diamonds before selling them,” he said. “Do not sell them to other countries like Western countries, and even China, without being processed.”

Mr Zhao gave the example of a diamond trader who inquired some years ago if there were no thieves in Shanghai or the whole of China.

This was after the idea to set up the Shanghai Diamond Exchange was mooted.

“The trader was afraid and I discovered it was because they were coming with raw diamonds,” said Mr Zhao.

“They asked this when we said we would start the Shanghai Diamond Trade Centre.

“I said there were no thieves, but they said when you eventually open perhaps there will be thieves. I said I will provide you with bodyguards trained in Chinese marshal arts.

“I then discovered that he had diamonds and he brought them in the pocket of his jacket.”

The Shanghai Diamond Exchange was established in 2000 and is China’s only diamond trading centre.

The centre is located in Jinmao Plaza, a landmark tower in Shanghai’s Pudong District, and is a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses with investors from countries such as Belgium, Israel, India, South Africa and the United States.

Mr Zhao’s call for beneficiation resonates with President Mugabe’s views on value addition as the only way to ensure Africans benefit from their natural resources.

Only two weeks ago, President Mugabe sent 25 students to China for a one-year training course in diamond cutting and polishing as the country pushes for value addition and beneficiation of its diamonds.

This was the first batch of 50 students to go for such training in the Asian country this year, while a similar number will follow every year until 2018.

Value addition and beneficiation are at the heart of the country’s economic blueprint Zim-Asset, as well as the African Union’s 50 year development roadmap, Agenda 2063, that are both anchored on the judicious exploitation of natural resources through value-addition and beneficiation to derive maximum returns for the people.

President Mugabe constantly hammered on the issue of beneficiation and value addition for Africa during his tenure as Chairman of the African Union last year.

Mr Zhao said African countries should create favourable conditions to attract investors and not hide information from those intending to bring their funds.

“We do want to know sufficient information there such as on taxes, how do you acquire land, the cost of labour, are there any thieves or robbers,” he said.

“If you hide something it will be horrible. Foreign investors are concerned about the safety of their funds.”

Mr Zhao said China worked hard to attract investors by putting in places attractive conditions and holding investment forums both in China and in countries with prospective investors.

He said the development of Shanghai to become one of China’s major commercial trading centres was not easy, but was achieved through perseverance.

Shanghai’s gross domestic product totalled 2,3 trillion yuan (almost US$359 billion) in 2014, up by 7 percent over the previous year for comparable prices.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey