China clamps down on blood diamonds
Xinhua, June 11, 2014 Adjust font size:
China has stressed the importance of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) and will continue to bust blood diamond trading, an official said on Tuesday.
Wei Chuanzhong, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), made the remarks at a meeting of the Kimberley Process in Shanghai.
Wei is this year's chair of the Kimberley Process, a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of blood diamonds, also called conflict diamonds, which are used by rebel movements to finance wars against governments.
The scheme imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as "conflict-free" and prevent blood diamonds from entering legitimate trade.
Wei said at the meeting that the AQSIQ has set up a team to safeguard the implementation of the scheme.
As chair, Wei called for further coordination among member countries to battle global conflict diamond trafficking.
China is now the world's second largest diamond consumer and fourth largest rough diamond trader.
From 2003 when the Kimberley Process was established to 2013, China's ports inspected 53,400 batches of rough diamonds worth 36.6 billion U.S. dollars in accordance with the KPCS.
