The New Jeweller

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ICBC joins AWDC

Witnessed by high ranked officials and VIP guests of both China and Belgium, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement, starting their cooperation in the field of diamond financing.

According to this agreement, ICBC will provide AWDC with professional first class financial services. Through its global network and advanced IT system, ICBC will provide various services to the Antwerp diamond companies, such as trade and product financing, global cash management, bank card acceptance, Chinese Yuan based international settlement, capital transaction and investment banking, etc.

The AWDC will assist ICBC in entering the field of diamond financing and assist its Brussels Branch to obtain the required location, the necessary professional technology, people, equipment and information to support the launch of ICBCs diamond financing activities. ICBCs important, global range clients, will be provided with high quality and competitively priced diamond products.

After the signing ceremony, Belgian Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde personally inaugurated the Antwerp Diamond Roadshow, launching a 10 day journey showcasing Antwerp diamonds in China.

During this 10 days 15 Antwerp diamond enterprises will visit Beijing, Taiyuan, Jinan, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. They will exhibit high quality polished diamonds, valued around 200 million US dollars and give Chinas most important jewelers and investors the opportunity to establish direct contact with Antwerp diamond companies. ICBC, as the sole financial service provider for AWDC and its participating member diamond companies during this road show, will provide various flexible services for this road show event.

The city of Antwerp in Belgium is the worlds capital of diamonds, it has the most renowned diamond manufacturing technology and it is the main hub for natural diamonds in the world. According to statistics, out of every 10 rough diamonds in the world, 8 are sent to Antwerp for further manufacturing, and 80% of the global diamond trading is conducted in Antwerp.

Since the last few years, the Antwerp diamond industry has played an increasingly important role in the Chinese-Belgian trade relationship. Diamonds represent 25% of all the trade between China and Belgium. AWDC is the largest diamond organization in the world, representing 1800 excellent diamond company members and the Belgian diamond industry equals an annual turnover of $ 45 billion USD. Globally, ICBC is the commercial bank with the largest market capitalization value, highest revenue and the highest clients savings value. Cooperation of the two strong partners to jointly extend diamond financing business, will not only bring excellent services to people and companies in China and Belgium, but it will also have an important facilitating role to further deepen the Chinese-Belgian trade relationship.