Jade businessmen in China have been dealt a body blow by the current global economic meltdown and the US ban on import of Burmese gems, said jade traders. The US banned import of Burmese gems on Oct 27, 2008.

A Burmese jade trader who arrived in Guangzhou in China's southwest Guangdong (Canton) province, the biggest Burma's Hpakant jade business centre in the country told KNG today, "Every jade exhibition here in Guangzhou is cold.  The exhibitions are being visited by very few traders from domestic and international markets."

Starting from early this month, some small jade companies in Shiqiao city in Guangdong have begun to close down because of the fall in domestic and international customers, said a Burmese jade trader.

The residents of Shiqiao rely on Burma's jade business by producing the finished products like different types of jade sculptures whose value starts from 10 Yuan and goes up to millions and millions of Yuan. They also sell raw jade, according to a Burmese jade businessman.

At the same time, other main jade business in Guangdong like Guangzhou and Jieyang has also been affected. The illegal jade market in Yingjiang in China's southeast Yunnan province is also suffering with no customers, according to Burmese jade traders in Yingjiang.

Jade traders in Guangzhou said, Chinese jade companies mainly used to sell their products -- the Hpakant jade to domestic buyers and those abroad such as in gem markets in the United States of America, European countries and Australia. However both jade markets showed a decline early this year, before the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

A Kachin jade businessman in Guangzhou did not feel the Hpakant jade markets in China would recover without political progress in Burma. He was referring to the US ban on import of all Burmese gems at the moment.

He also added that the Burmese junta may face increasing economic sanctions from the US and the international community if there are no political changes.