FOCUS 焦点 PEARL REPORT | 22 | 2024-2025 Akoya pearl necklace by Y&M Pearls 缘美真珠的日本Akoya珍珠项链 China has witnessed extraordinarily strong demand for loose pearls and pearl jewellery amid ongoing economic challenges. To sustain this momentum, the pearl industry is banking on advancements in cultivation technology and product upgrades while exploring opportunities in overseas markets. 在经济持续充满挑战的情况下，中国对散装珍珠 和珍珠首饰的需求显得份外殷切。珍珠业通过养殖技术的进步、产品升级和探索海外市场的机遇，保 持良好的发展势头。 Following a boom in 2023, China’s pearl sector experienced a slowdown in the first half of 2024 due to waning market interest. Rising demand for higherquality pearls, however, offers a silver lining. China-based pearl companies attributed this sluggishness to ongoing global economic headwinds, which inevitably impacted the Chinese pearl market. Buyers are also taking a more cautious stance as pearls become more expensive due to stronger demand. “The pearl market performed exceptionally well in 2023 until nearly the end of the year. The market goes through cycles of ups and downs, and an eventual cooldown is natural,” said Shen Ronggen, general manager of Zhejiang OSM Pearls & Jewelry Co Ltd, which is a major pearl enterprise in China. According to Shen, business was down since the fourth quarter of 2023. Pearl jewellery sales also declined during the Mother’s Day holiday in May 2024 while prices of loose pearls softened compared to peaks reached in 2023. “Bear in mind that the pearl market has grown significantly, gaining wider recognition in recent years. Despite slower business, we are still in a relatively favourable position. The business will not fall to extremely low levels,” he noted. Solid demand Retail sales of pearl jewellery in China increased by approximately 46 per cent to RMB 35 billion (around US$4.85 billion) in 2023, accounting for 4 per cent of the country’s total jewellery sales, revealed data from the 2023 China Jewellery Industry Development Report by the Gems & Jewelry Trade Association of China. The so-called “celebrity effect” and the livestreaming phenomenon continued to fuel consumers’ desire for pearls, according to Ye XiaoBo, chairman of pearl jewellery retailer Y&M Pearls. | Sharon Kwok 郭芷雯 | 中国珍珠业坚毅前行 Resiliency in China’s pearl sector
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