China holds great potential for diamond consumption with its rapid economic growth, said Abbey Chikane, director of the World Diamond Council and Chairman of the South Africa Diamond Board, Thursday.

"As China's disposable income per person is on the rise, people value quality and brand more. Diamonds are a luxury item, but we hope they will enter more Chinese people's lives as luxury cars or watches have," said Chikane at the opening ceremony of a South African diamond culture and jewelry exhibition, the biggest of its kind in the country.

Besides bringing top-quality diamonds to Chinese consumers, said Chikane, it was more important to promote a diamond culture in China and let people understand more about diamond jewelry.

The consumption of diamonds and other jewelry in China, he said, was at its initial stage, but the council was ready to work more closely with domestic diamond distributors, like Hiersun, the internationally renowned diamond sales agency that has had a strong presence in China for over three years.

Also a founder of the Kimberly Process, the international diamond policing system, Chikane highly praised the Chinese government's efforts to comply with the new international rules stipulating uncut diamonds must be accompanied by detailed records of provenance from its entry on Jan. 1, this year.