China imported 77.91 million U.S. dollars worth of diamonds in the first quarter of the year, a rise of 170 percent over the same period last year.

Shanghai Diamond Exchange imported about 76 million U.S. dollars worth of refined diamonds from January to March, accounting for 97.6 percent of the total, for an increase of 188 percent from comparable figure of a year ago, according to statistics provided by the Shanghai Joint Administrative Office for Diamond Trading.

The country imported diamonds equivalent to 34.9 million US dollars in March alone, a rise of 257 percent from the same month last year, according to the administrative office.

The Shanghai Diamond Exchange is now the only channel by which commonly-traded diamonds can legally flow in and out of China.

On July 1, 2006, China scrapped value added tax on imported uncut diamonds, and lowered the tax rate on imported refined diamonds from 17 percent to 4 percent in a move designed to cut "widespread smuggling" of the precious stone.

In the latter half of 2006, China's refined diamond imports jumped 194 percent year on year to 147 million U.S. dollars, according to the Shanghai Diamond Exchange.

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