HRD Antwerp NV, will be for the first time participating at the ‘Jewelry Shanghai 2008’ trade show. This would also be the first time an Antwerp Diamond Pavilion is featuring at a show on the Chinese mainland. The event is being held between May 8 to May 11, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

“We see tremendous potential in the Shanghai diamond market,” said Georges Brys, general manager of HRD Antwerp. “Not only is the city the site of China’s only diamond exchange, but Shanghai’s jewellery retail sector represents about 20 percent of total jewellery sales in China.” The HRD Antwerp will be located at Stand 1H58 in the Antwerp Diamond Pavilion. Overall, the show is expected to feature about 1,100 booths in 23,000 square metres of exhibition space.

To organise this event, contributions have come in from Chinese gemstone and jewellery organisations, including the Gems & Jewellery Trade Association of China, the National Gems & Jewellery Technology Administrative Centre, the Shanghai Gold Exchange, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, the Shanghai Gold & Jewellery Trade Association, the Shenzhen Gold Jewellery Association, and the Shanghai Gem and Jade Association.

Apart from the ‘Jewelry Shanghai 2008’, the Shanghai diamond industry has up its sleeves a number of key industry symposiums and events. On May 13-15, it will host the 33rd World Diamond Congress at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel. On May 14, Brys will address a joint session of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association on “A Blueprint for Quality," describing how the HRD Antwerp - Diamond Lab became the first diamond grading facility to be accredited according to standards of the International Standards Organisation (ISO/IEC 17025).