The Israeli diamond industry has expanded its partnership with Chinese internet giant Alibaba and will now offer diamonds for sale directly to Chinese consumers via its luxury platform, Ali Auction (paimai.taobao.com), the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) said.

IDE has already been working with Alibaba.com for the past year on B2B diamond sales.

Through Ali Auction, IDE will offer a wide and diverse stock of diamonds, from small to large sizes.

The new marketing venture with Ali Auction will be launched in Shanghai at the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), from November 5-10, 2018, where diamonds will also be offered for direct sale at a national pavilion featuring seven major Israeli companies.

IDE President Yoram Dvash said, “We’re really excited to again be partnering with Alibaba, which is one of the most exciting and creative internet sales platforms in the world.” 

Jun Zhen, International Business Development Director at Ali Auction said, “IDE is the first international institute that has entered Ali Auction. We would like to see it succeed and we will help IDE grow in the Chinese market.”

Asia, and especially Hong Kong and China, is Israel’s second largest export market, representing over 30% of total polished diamond exports.