Chinese made jewelry selling well in Vietnam despite health scare

While toxic Chinese-made jewelry products have hit international headlines, here in Vietnam, Chinese jewelry still continues to sell well.

Silver plated and gilded bracelets, earrings and other types of jewelry with no clear origins are displayed everywhere in big cities. In Hanoi, teenagers can easily find the jewelry products at the souvenir shops on Ton That Tung, Doi Can, Cau Giay and Ton Duc Thang Streets. Prices vary, from several thousand dong to several hundred thousand dong

According to VnExpress, the main customers are teenage students. The most favored and fashionable products this year are a silver plated set of necklaces, bracelet, earrings and rings, which are priced at between 150,000 dong and 250,000 dong.

The young customers have little knowledge of the origin they purchase the products. Van Anh, a student of Kim Lien High School, related that she always purchases the products in Khuong Thuong area. “They are fairly cheap, so I don’t care where they come from. I only care about this when I purchase a valuable product,” she said.

The owner of a souvenir shop in Khuong Thuong area said that most of the jewelry products at her shop are silver plated, therefore, they are very cheap. She said that products are bought at Hang Ngang, Hang Dao and Dong Xuan wholesale markets, while the wholesale markets import products from China. She revealed that the cost price is just one third of the sale price.

This kind of jewelry is also available at many shops in HCM City. Owners of jewelry shops confirm that they never sell Chinese made products. However, experts have warned that it is very difficult to track down the origin of the products

One VnExpress reporter, who visited to jewelry shops in Ben Thanh and An Dong Market area in HCM City, was shown many kinds of imported jewelry which were introduced as the products of Italy.

Meanwhile, General Director of Sacombank’s Jewelry Company Nguyen Ngoc Que Chi, said her company has not developed the series of products for children, adding that her company is mainly selling its own products, not imported products.

Phu Nhuan Jewellery Company’s Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Cuc also said that only five percent of products available at the company’s chain are the imports from Italia.

One director of a jewelry company confirmed that many products now available in Vietnam are sourced from China and go through unofficial channels. Most products are selling as the products from Italy with no certificate regarding the purity of gold and the safety to human health. Meanwhile, it is impossible to tell with the naked eye if a product contains cadmium.

Do Gia Phan, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association, also said products must be brought to laboratories to find cadmium

The head of the Hanoi Market Control Sub-department Trinh Van Ngoc said that his department has just heard about cadmium containing jewelry from the mass media. Ngoc said that his department will join forces with the Ministry of Health to clarify the problem.

VietNamNet/VNE

Tags: Chinese made jewelry, Vietnam market