香港珍珠中心地位临中国内地挑战

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香港是世界主要珠宝市场之一。

In Hall Seven of Hong Kong\'s Convention and Exhibition Center, table after table is stacked with strings of pearls, looking more like a rummage sale than a display of luxury and elegance. Most of the pearls are from one country: China.

香港会展中心7号展厅内珍珠连排摆放，看似清仓拍卖而不象是奢华品展示。大部分珍珠都来自中国。

Didier Brodbeck, a French pearl expert, says Chinese fresh water pearls now account for about 95 percent of the world\'s total pearl production.

布罗德贝克是法国珍珠出口商人。他说，中国淡水珍珠现在占据世界珍珠生产总量的大约95%。

"The boom is very recent, maybe 10 years ago, but the pearls are getting better and better, bigger and bigger, and more attractive, you know," said Brodbeck. "In the early days, they were not very good quality pearls. They are still very, very cheap, because the production is so big."

布罗德贝克说：“珍珠生产暴涨是不久之前的事情，可能就是10年前，但是珍珠现在变得越来越好、越来越大、越来越有吸引力。他们在早期的时候质量并不是很好。他们现在依然非常廉价，因为产量是如此巨大。”

While mass cultivation has caused the price of pearls to drop dramatically in the past few years, South Sea pearls from countries such as Polynesia and Australia remain expensive. This is because they are more rare, because they develop naturally in oysters in the sea.

尽管大规模养殖导致珍珠价格过去几年中巨幅下降，但是来自波利尼西亚和澳大利亚的南海珍珠的价格继续居高不下，因为它们在海水牡蛎中自然生成。

Brodbeck says Hong Kong has become the center of the pearl business in the past decade, after taking over from the previous pearl capital, Kobe, Japan. But Brodbeck says Hong Kong may lose its position to a newly created city in mainland China. Pearl City, in Zhuji, on the Yangtze River is set to open later this year. It aims at becoming the world\'s leading center for the cultivation and trade of pearls.

布罗德贝克说，香港过去10年中取代珍珠之都的日本神户，成为珍珠商业中心。但是他说，中国大陆一个新建的城市可能会取代香港的地位。长江流域的诸暨珍珠城计划今年晚些时候开张，目的是成为世界上最主要的珍珠养殖与交易中心。

"They want to take the business away from Kobe and Hong Kong and have a world pearl market open every day of the week, all year round, so people can buy any kind of pearls, and they want the Chinese, the Japanese, Polynesians - everybody to come who has interest in dealing with pearls," he said. "And, when the project will be done they expect to have like 4500 firms established there that will be open seven days a week."

布罗德贝克说：“他们希望从神户和香港手中把生意抢走，并且一年四季每天都有一个世界珍珠市场在那里开张。这样人们可以购买任何珍珠。他们也希望中国人、日本人、波利尼西亚人，每位希望珍珠交易的人都前往珍珠城。项目完成之后，他们预计会有大约4千5百家公司在那里立足，每周7天营业。”

Hong Kong\'s International Jewelry Show is the world\'s third largest fair of its kind. More than 2300 exhibitors participated in the latest fair, setting a record.

香港国际珠宝展览会是世界上第三大珠宝展，参展商超过2千3百家，创下新的记录。

Hong Kong is the world\'s fourth-largest exporter of precious jewelry. The city is also the world\'s biggest exporter of imitation jewelry and a leading producer of gold items.

香港是世界上第四大稀有珠宝的出口地，也是世界上仿造珠宝最大的出口地和黄金产品的主要生产地。

Many producers have been affected by rising gold prices. The price surged more than 30 percent in the past year, reaching a historic high of almost $1,000 an ounce this month.

很多制造商都受到黄金价格上涨的影响。黄金价格去年飙升超过30%，本月几乎达到一盎司售价1千美元的历史新高。

This Hong Kong producer of gold jewelry, who mainly sells to the United States, says his profit has shrunk because now customers buy cheaper items.

一位主要向美国出口的香港黄金珠宝制造商说，现在顾客都购买廉价商品，让他的利润缩水。

"Looking at Valentine\'s Day sales\' turnover, for example, was the units haven\'t really gone down in America - the sales value has definitely gone down," he said. "Also, the buyers ask for a lot more silver products which we don\'t specialize in, and silver and gold."

他说：“比如说，看看情人节的销售额，就可以发现商品数量在美国并没有下降，而是销售额下降。而且买家对银质产品的需求增加，而我们并不是银质产品的行家。”

Some parts of the world have remained relatively unaffected by higher gold prices. Simon Yau, with the World Gold Council, says in China, demand remains high.

世界上有些地区相比之下没有受到黄金价格升高的影响。

"For example the last year, in 2007, the gold demand in China is already (up) over something 20 percent," Yau noted. "Also in the first two months of this year - that means January and February - demand is still growing up comparing to last year. It is about 20-something percent growth compared to last year. We believe that retail and the consumer demand is still there. They have money."

世界黄金委员会的邱西蒙说，中国对黄金的需求量依然很高。邱西蒙说：“比如说，中国对黄金的需求去年2007年已经增加了大约20%。今年的头两个月，也就是1月和2月，对黄金的需求与去年同期相比依然上涨了大约20%。我们相信黄金零售和消费需求依然存在。他们有钱。”

China became the world\'s second biggest gold buyer, last year, overtaking the United States. The world\'s biggest buyer remains India, where gifts of gold jewelry play an important part in weddings and other celebrations.

中国去年超越美国成为世界第二大黄金购买国，仅次于印度。印度黄金珠宝礼物在婚礼和其它庆祝活动中扮演主要角色。

In both India and China, there is a growing interest in diamonds, as a symbol of newly acquired wealth. This employee of an Israeli diamond firm says that as sales in the United States have fallen, because of the economic downturn there. Her company increasingly focuses on India and China.

印度和中国都对钻石的兴趣不减，而钻石是暴富的象征。以色列钻石公司一位雇员说，钻石在美国的销售因为经济下滑而减少了。她的公司越来越将注意力集中到印度和中国。

"At one time, it was just China was buying for production and exporting. Now, they are buying for their own consumption," she said. "And, the same with India. India used to buy and export - just for manufacturing and then export it and now the Indian population, 10 percent of the Indian population is very, very wealthy and that 10 percent people have now become very interested in diamonds and the money they have is phenomenal."

她说：“中国一度只为生产和出口而购买钻石，现在却是为自身消费而购买钻石。印度也是这样。印度过去为加工然后出口而购买钻石，现在印度10%的人口非常富有，这10%的人现在对钻石非常感兴趣，而且他们有很多的钱。”

It is India\'s fashionable youth who are driving diamond sales. They see diamonds as more trendy than traditional gold. With a large population of educated young adults entering the job market in India, traders at the Hong Kong fair expect to see a strong market there for years.

驱动钻石销售的是印度时尚的年轻一族。在他们的眼中，钻石要比传统黄金更为时尚。随着受过教育的年轻一代进入印度就业市场，香港展览会里的商人们预计会看到印度钻石市场的未来无限商机。