OREANDA-NEWS. November 14, 2011. ICBC and Belgian Antwerp World Diamond Center ("AWDC") signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement in Beijing. The agreement marks the beginning of cooperation of the two parties in the field of diamond financing, reported the press-centre of ICBC.

According to the agreement, ICBC will offer professional first-class financial services to AWDC. Leveraging ICBC's global network and advanced IT system, related services such as trade and product financing, global cash management, bank card acceptance, cross-border RMB, international settlement, capital transaction and investment banking are provided to Antwerp diamond companies. AWDC will lend support to ICBC to enter the field of diamond financing and assist ICBC Brussels to obtain the required location, the necessary professional technology, people, equipment and information to support the launch of ICBC's diamond financing service. Moreover, AWDC will provide competitively-priced diamond products with the same quality to ICBC's key customers around the world.

After the signing ceremony, Belgian royal personages personally inaugurated the Antwerp Diamond Roadshow, launching a 10-day journey showcasing Antwerp diamonds in China. During the 10 days, 15 Antwerp's diamond traders will visit Beijing, Taiyuan, Jinan, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. They will exhibit high quality polished diamonds, worth around USD 200 million and give China's major jewelers and investors the opportunity to establish direct contact with Antwerp's diamond companies. ICBC, as the only financial service provider for AWDC and its participating member diamond companies during the Roadshow, will provide various flexible services for this event.

Belgium's Antwerp is famed as the World Diamond City. It has the most renowned diamond manufacturing technology and is the main hub for natural diamond in the world. According to statistics, eight out of ten uncut diamonds in the world are sent to Antwerp for further manufacturing, while 80% of global diamond trading is conducted in Antwerp. Over the past few years, the Antwerp diamond industry has played an increasingly important role in the Chinese-Belgian trade relationship. Diamonds represent 25% of all trades between China and Belgium. China is now the most important market for Belgian diamonds. AWDC is the largest diamond organization in the world, representing 1,800 excellent diamond companies and the Belgian diamond industry valued USD 45 billion. Globally, ICBC is the largest commercial bank in terms of market capitalization, profitability and customer saving deposits. Cooperation of the two heavyweights to jointly extend diamond financing business brings excellent services to people and companies in China and Belgium. It also plays an important facilitating role to take the trade relationship of the two nations to a higher level.