1. Hong Kong’s jewellery industry started in the 1950s when products were mainly handmade (mostly 24K pure gold). Therefore, the export volume was not high. Besides, local people did not have enough knowledge about the value of jewellery, hence the jewellery industry was at an immature stage. At the end of 1950s, practitioners of various industries moved southward from the Mainland, leading to a drastic growth in the population of Hong Kong. Among them were practitioners of the jewellery industry, including gold-casting workers (making ornament/pure gold jewellery), setting and mounting workers, jade traders and retailers who came to Hong Kong to continue their business. Their target buyers were mainly tourists from the South-east Asian region. With the introduction of lost wax production lines in the mid-70s, and the import of overseas advanced machinery and equipment as well as the latest technology and knowledge, local products could meet world standards and the requirements of overseas customers. As a matter of fact, Hong Kong enjoyed an advantageous position both politically and geographically. In the 1960s, the Government administered the Comprehensive Certificate of Origin programme to boost exports and adopted free economy and low tax-rate policies. These were important factors which had fostered the development of the local jewellery industry, enabling a small fishing harbour to become one of the world’s most rapidly developed cities in regard to the jewellery industry.

At present, Hong Kong is Asia’s leading jewellery manufacturer and a major exporter of expensive jewellery, pearl raw materials and Jewellery. Being one of the world’s top exporters of jewellery in terms of annual export value, Hong Kong has enjoyed stable growth in export volume. Hong Kong is also an international exhibition centre for jewellery and the hub of raw materials. Buyers from around the world often come to Hong Kong to purchase and order jewellery and materials. They have also actively participated in jewellery exhibition events. As a result of global economic recovery, people are now more willing to spend money on consumer products and services. Therefore, a significant growth in the local demand for jewellery is anticipated.

Hong Kong’s jewellery products are renowned for their broad varieties, trendy design and reasonable price. Apart from enjoying a huge local market (Hong Kong people has a high average rate of jewellery possession), Hong Kong made its way into the international market long ago. Locally manufactured jewellery has become the first choice of buyers and customers world-wide. The main reasons include the good credibility of local jewellery manufacturers, stylish design, exquisite workmanship, genuine goods at fair price as well as timely delivery. Besides, the Government has played a significant role in the development of the jewellery industry by providing a favourable business environment and various supporting measures, enabling members of the industry to fully display their abilities, contributing to the expansion and growing maturity of jewellery enterprises in Hong Kong. Moreover, the good management system of our large jewellery enterprises, together with their high competitiveness and adaptability, excellent market sensitivity and flexible business skills, has made them the mainstays of the industry. The brand names established by them have also gained international acclaim.

In a bid to maintain competitiveness, more and more local jewellery manufacturers have gradually moved their manufacturing operations to the Mainland, particularly places like Shenzhen and Panyu, because of the low production cost there. With Hong Kong manufacturers’ increasing investment in the Mainland and the improving workmanship of Mainland jewellery workers, there was a drastic upsurge in Mainland jewellery products for re-export via Hong Kong in recent years. Notwithstanding that, some of the manufacturers still retain their manufacturing operations of high value-added and high quality products in Hong Kong. Many manufacturers have applied computer-aided design and rapid prototyping techniques to shorten the time cycle for product development. There are still large-scale jewellery manufacturers who have introduced advanced, precise and automatic machinery to enhance productivity and product varieties. In face of this growing trend, Hong Kong is now actively developing into an international management centre for the development and promotion of jewellery products, while the Pearl River Delta Region will develop into a technical and manufacturing centre.

The industry has also benefited from the new opportunities provided by the implementation of CEPA. The new arrangement allows some of the locally manufactured jewellery and imitation jewellery products to be exempt from tariff. Besides, Hong Kong companies can also operate fully-owned wholesale and retailing businesses in the Mainland. Therefore, local jewellery manufacturers have benefited from this new policy and have enjoyed an increase in the market share of the Mainland. This arrangement also helps to attract employers to re-invest their resources in the local jewellery manufacturing industry, and to actively engage themselves in technological innovations and the design of new products to meet the development of the industry. Hence, the industry anticipates increases in the demand for relevant technical staff.

On the other hand, the relaxed policy of the Individual Visit Scheme for Mainland travellers to visit Hong Kong also has a positive effect on the local jewellery industry, especially outlets which mainly serve Mainland tourists. The locally manufactured jewellery is the hot buying item of many tourists in Hong Kong. According to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Tourism Board earlier on Hong Kong “Must Buy” products, “gold jewellery” is one of the must-buy souvenirs of Mainland and overseas tourists. We can see that the jewellery industry has not only made tremendous contributions to export, but has also greatly enhanced the attractiveness of Hong Kong, making it a tourist destination and shopping centre of the region. Thanks to the Individual Visit Scheme, members of the industry now cherish a high hope for the future retailing business and are actively planning to set up new outlets to cater for the needs of the tourists under this scheme. In view of the drastic growth in retail and wholesale activities, the industry expects a significant increase in the demand for promotional staff, salespersons, export-import business development staff and relevant production/technical workers, while designers with innovative ideas are particularly in demand. In the long run, the industry will invest more on quality control and manufacturing operations, with a view to establishing their own brand names through continuous improvement in product quality.

At present, the pre-vocational or in-service training provided in Hong Kong cannot catch up with the development of the jewellery industry in different areas. Some frontline employees, such as production staff, technicians and designers can only learn their skills from the more experienced fellow workers or their seniors through apprenticeship to perform simple and routine duties. Therefore, many employees have failed to obtain comprehensive professional knowledge or to apply industry-related technological innovations to their work.