Urumqi Jade Market

The jade market in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, is bullish about its growth as Xinjiang's tourism industry grows in tandem. According to the enterprise registration section of the Urumqi industry and commerce administration bureau, there are 1,359 enterprises dealing in jade ores, jade objects and jewellery. Around 370 enterprises had registered for business between January and November 2006 alone.

Urumqi is not just a major distribution centre but is also an important processing centre for Hetian jade, on a national level. The Xinjiang Gem and Jade Jewellery Association currently has over 400 individual members and 80 corporate members.

The price of jade has soared from only a few hundred yuan per kg in the 1980s to thousands of yuan per kg in the 1990s. Today, primary ore price has jumped to tens of thousands of yuan per kg and secondary ore may cost anything between Rmb300,000 and Rmb400,000, or even over Rmb1 million per kg.

Xinjiang's Hetian jade industry has witnessed rapid growth over the past 10 years. There are now over 100 jade carving factories in the whole of Xinjiang, employing more than 1,000 people.

There are also over 1,000 enterprises selling and providing wholesale jade in Urumqi, with several hundred at Hualing Market alone. Between January and September 2006, jade worth Rmb1 billion was sent to the two jade appraisal centres in Urumqi for appraisal. According to experts, annual transactions of jade in Urumqi amount to at least Rmb1.5 billion.

Today, several major jade distribution centres have emerged in Urumqi, including the Urumqi Geology and Mining Bureau, the district around Southern Gate and Big Cross, the White Jade City and Oriental Jade Capital at Zhanzigou, the International Bazaar, the Hualing Market, and the area around the Railway Bureau.

Nationally renowned jade dealers operating in these centres include Hehe Jade, Zhenzhen Jewellery City and Yuyuange.

Jade distribution and production options in the area could be prosperous areas for suppliers and distributors from Hong Kong with international and domestic sales in mind.