Irrawaddy-June 6
Myanmar’s multibillion-dollar jade market is collapsing under pressure from China’s crackdown on illicit border trade, according to sources. Jade sales in Mandalay at the country’s biggest gems market have slowed to a near halt since late February as Beijing clamps down on border telecom scams and tax fraud, traders said. “Chinese authorities are investigating companies and merchants and making arrests. This is hitting the jade market in Myanmar,” a jade trader in Mandalay said. Tighter controls on money transfers imposed by China and the junta were adding to the impact, the trader said. Myanmar’s jade trade was estimated to be worth about US $31 billion in 2014 by transparency campaigner Global Witness. China is the biggest customer for Myanmar’s jade. The gemstones used to be sold on-site in local markets, but Chinese buyers have now switched to making purchases online via Chinese payment platform WeChat. The government receives no tax from these online transactions. Chinese police recently began raiding the gems market in the border trade town of Ruili, targeting transactions made on WeChat, according to gems merchants in Mandalay. Fighting along the road between Mandalay and Kachin State has also damaged the business, said another gems merchant. In the country’s jade hub of Hpakant in Kachin State, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has imposed taxes on jade mining and trading that have slowed trade, said local gems merchants. Read more at:
