A senior official yesterday called for intensified efforts to further develop the diamond industry in China, the world's fifth largest consumer of the precious stone.

"Under the current favorable tax policy, it is time to take the diamond industry to a new level," Ma Xiuhong, vice-minister of commerce, said at the 2007 China International Diamond Conference held in Shanghai.

Starting July 2006, the tariff on diamonds was reduced to 10 percent from 15.3 percent. Since the new tax policy on diamond industry took effect, diamond trade has grown at a much faster pace.

According to latest figures compiled by the Shanghai-based Diamond Administration of China (DAC), total imports and exports of diamond plus turnover of the precious stone on the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE), amounted to $610 million in 2006, up 44 percent from 2005. The total trading volume in 2007 is expected to increase by a further 50 percent to $900 million, seven times that of 2001 when the SDE was first established.

Tang Dengjie, vice-mayor of Shanghai, said more work was needed establish Shanghai into an international diamond trading center in China.

DAC yesterday signed a cooperation memorandum with the Antwerp World Diamond Center in a bid to broaden the scope of cooperation in the future. Antwerp center is one of the largest diamond-trading hubs in the world.