De Beers plans to expand in China

De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, announced Tuesday that it will further expand its retail outlets in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Johannesburg-headquartered company said it will open a second store in Hong Kong and more shops in mainland China. The company already opened a store in Beijing in the first half of 2011, as part of a joint venture with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MC.Euronext). It also brought retail outlets to Kazakhstan and Dubai. The company expects China, India and the Middle East to account for 40% of global retail diamond demand by 2015. While diamond production got off to a slow start in the first half of 2011, income from rough diamond sales increased 33% based on strong new demand from Chinese and Indian consumers. “We have an aggressive expansion plan particularly focused on China,” said Bruce Cleaver, De Beers’ chief commercial officer.