Shanghai and Israel Diamond Exchanges Announce Collaboration

The Shanghai Diamond Exchange has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Israel Diamond Exchange Ltd. (ISDE) to transfer to Israel activity pertaining to the processing of large stones, the ISDE announced Monday. The ISDE will invite Chinese diamond cutters to work in a new diamond cutting facility being built in central Israel. As part of the deal, dozens of Chinese diamond processing companies are expected to transfer some of their processing activity to Israel.

The new diamond processing center, built by the ISDE and the Israel Diamond Institute at an estimated cost of $2.7 million (10 million NIS), will host two large stone cutting facilities totaling 1,000 square meters, and employ 150 people, the ISDE said. The ISDE is a privately-held company uniting more than 3,000 members and companies dealing in diamond import and export, manufacturing, and brokerage, according to the IDE website.