Editor’s Note
This report highlights a recent seminar in Guangdong Province focused on implementing national quality standards within the jewelry industry. Such initiatives are crucial for enhancing product quality, ensuring consumer protection, and fostering sustainable development in key regional sectors.
Recently, a seminar on the promotion of national standards and quality improvement was held in Haifeng County, Guangdong Province. The event was jointly organized by the Guangdong Provincial Jewelry and Jade Standardization Technical Committee, the Shanwei City Quality and Metrology Supervision and Inspection Institute of Guangdong Province, and the Haifeng County Jewelry Association. It aimed to promote the effective implementation of two national standards: GB/T 42437-2023 “Identification of Southern Red Agate” and GB/T 44913-2024 “Identification and Classification of Filled Single Crystal Gemstones,” and to enhance the technical level and product quality within the jewelry and jade industry.
At the beginning of the event, Chen Jiyi, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Haifeng County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, delivered an opening speech.
he stated. He put forward two requirements for enterprises on how to effectively carry out quality improvement work in the jewelry industry chain: first, to strengthen awareness of laws and regulations and firmly establish the bottom line for compliant operations; second, to focus on product quality improvement to solidify the foundation for industrial development.
In the first session of the meeting, Yang Hao, Director of the Testing Laboratory at the Shanwei City Quality and Metrology Supervision and Inspection Institute of Guangdong Province, delivered a special report on quality improvement in the jewelry industry chain. The report provided an in-depth yet accessible case analysis for attendees, covering regulatory requirements for product quality in jewelry production and sales enterprises, case studies of non-compliance in jewelry production, and compliance suggestions for jewelry production and sales enterprises.
In the second session, Lin Xifeng, President of the Guangdong Colored Gemstone Jewelry Chamber of Commerce, and Wang Kangtai, President of the Haifeng County Jewelry Association, elaborated on the significance of implementing national standards for promoting regional industrial upgrading and enhancing product market competitiveness, based on the actual development of Haifeng’s jewelry industry.
A core highlight of this standard promotion session was the in-depth interpretation by authoritative industry experts. The meeting specially invited the main drafter of the standards, Dai Sulan, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Sichuan Provincial Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute, Academic Leader of the National Gold, Silver, and Jewelry Quality Inspection and Testing Center (Sichuan), and a second-level professor, to give the keynote lecture.
Dai Sulan first provided a systematic interpretation of the two national standards, covering key aspects such as the scope of application, technical indicators, and identification methods. Focusing on the core clauses of the two standards, she deconstructed practical issues including compliance requirements in production and processing, technical points in testing, standard boundaries in transactions, and the practical application of the standards. This helped participants accurately understand the content of the standards and master methods for applying them in practical work, steadily progressing from “knowing the standards” to “using the standards.”
Judging from the meeting agenda, this promotion seminar was designed to balance industry exchange with standard implementation. Towards the end of the meeting, an “Award Ceremony for Advanced Units and Individuals in Standardization Promotion” was held to recognize collectives and individuals who have performed outstandingly in promoting industry standardization, setting industry benchmarks and stimulating the enthusiasm of the entire industry to practice the standards.
Industry insiders pointed out that GB/T 42437-2023 “Identification of Southern Red Agate” provides a unified identification basis for the Southern Red Agate market, which can effectively curb malpractices such as passing off inferior products as high-quality ones and counterfeiting. GB/T 44913-2024 “Identification and Classification of Filled Single Crystal Gemstones” fills the industry’s technical gap in the identification and classification of filled gemstones, which is conducive to a reasonable view of Haifeng’s jewelry processing and filling technology.
The holding of this promotion seminar will help industry practitioners quickly grasp the key points of the standards, standardize production and operation processes, and further clarify standard boundaries in transactions. This will not only enhance enterprise product quality and market competitiveness but also increase consumer trust in jewelry products, laying a solid foundation for promoting the high-quality development of the jewelry and jade industry in Guangdong and even nationwide.