The ICA Congress ended last night after what was deemed a very successful six-day event in the city of Panyu, China. 200 overseas delegates from 26 countries and more than 750 local Chinese participants attended the event.



Foreign delegates stated their conviction that new business opportunities exist in the vast Chinese market. In the course of the congress, high level Chinese government officials and industry players explained the intricacies of doing business in China, which has an emerging middle class of over 200 million.



According to experts, the Chinese domestic market for jewelry is also expected to double in the next few years, becoming the largest market in the world. A whitepaper on the topic of the Chinese colored stone market, which was cosponsored by ICA and China Gold News, was distributed at the conference.



During the conference, Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to two individuals for their significant contributions to ICA and the growth of the international gemstone industry and trade. The honorees, both veterans of the colored gemstone industry, were Mr. Campbell Bridges and Mr. Yip Kun Poon. Both are founding members of the ICA. Bridges is the discoverer of tsavorite and the first person to provide tanzanite for identification in the USA. Yip Kun Poon has worked for decades to bring colored gems to the Japanese market.



A central topic at the ICA event was the presentation of a project for the standardization of colored gemstones in China in order to improve quality, industrial competitiveness, and consumer awareness.



In the course of the congress, the ICA reportedly became a member of CASM (Communities and Small-Scale Mining), a World Bank initiative “to reduce poverty by improving the environmental, social, and economic performance of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries.”