Flood of jewelry exports points to inflated invoices, analysts say

Mainland customs data showed US$15.7 billion of exported precious metals and jewelry in the past two months despite global demand for luxury goods dropping precipitously since the third quarter, signaling a resurgence in inflated invoicing, South China Morning Post reported, citing a survey by the Hong Kong Productivity Council. According to Lu Ting, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the recent over-invoicing problem might be more related to attempts to skirt rules around export-value-added tax rebates, which would mark a departure from invoices used in the first half of the year for arbitrage and illicit capital leakage across the border through shadow banking.