Editor’s Note
The 22nd Wuzhou Gem Festival has opened, showcasing the city’s ambition to fuse its gemstone industry with smart technology and fashion trends. The reported investment deals highlight the event’s role as a significant economic driver for the region.
On December 19, the 22nd Wuzhou Gem Festival, jointly organized by the People’s Government of Wuzhou City, the China Jewelry and Jade Industry Association, and the Guangxi International Expo Affairs Bureau, opened. This edition of the festival, themed “Smart Wuzhou Gems, Leading the Future of Fashion,” saw the signing of 16 projects with a total investment exceeding 2.3 billion yuan, including 8 on-site signed projects.
During the opening ceremony, the Wuzhou Gem Design Model and two group standards for artificial gemstones were released. Activities such as the gemstone project signing ceremony, jewelry exhibition, and the “AI Empowerment · New Eastern Jewelry Channel” themed dialogue were also held.
According to the introduction, this year’s Wuzhou Gem Festival adopts a more open, innovative, and green approach. It closely follows the trends of the artificial intelligence technology wave and the restructuring of the global industrial chain. With “design innovation, technology empowerment, and market expansion” as its core development path, the festival leverages the two new driving forces of artificial intelligence and cross-border trade. The AI Empowerment Festival runs throughout the event, creating an industry gathering that integrates industry matchmaking, AI application showcases, and cultural experiences.
The Wuzhou Gem Festival has been held for 22 consecutive sessions, becoming an important platform for showcasing Wuzhou’s gemstone industry development achievements and promoting domestic and international exchange and cooperation in the gemstone industry. In recent years, Wuzhou City has used AI to assist in the upgrading and development of the gemstone industry, forming a complete and well-supported gemstone industry development system covering raw material supply, cutting and processing, design and inlay, mechanical manufacturing, and maintenance. It is one of China’s characteristic jewelry and jade industry bases. Currently, Wuzhou’s gemstone industry employs over 50,000 people, with about 3,700 market entities such as jewelry stores. In 2024, the comprehensive output value reached approximately 13.5 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 36%. Products are exported to over 100 countries. Furthermore, the Wuzhou gemstone industry cluster was selected for the United Arab Emirates’ “Top Ten Digital Foreign Trade Industry Belts,” continuously enhancing Wuzhou gemstones’ international recognition and deeply integrating into the global jewelry supply chain.
