China has emerged as the world's second-largest diamond polishing base with an annual export of over 3 million carats, or nearly $1 billion worth of diamond, a report said.

Along with the rapid consummating techniques in diamond processing and the ever improving living standard of the Chinese people, China has also become the largest diamond consumption nation in Asia and the fifth-largest diamond consumption country in the world, Beijing Youth Daily reported quoting the Chinese Customs sources as saying.

Sales volume of diamond ornaments amounted to $19.6 billion yuan ($2.37 billion) in Chinese mainland in 2003, Jiao Jianqun, an official with the trade department of the general administration of customs, quoted as saying by the paper.

Diamonds processed in China, with their unique favour, are called by the international diamond circle as 'China craft,' comparing with 'Belgium craft' and 'Israel craft' as the world's most superb technique in the trade, the paper said.

Chinese customs statistics showed that China imported 11.44 million carats of raw diamond in 2003, and exported 3.3 million processed diamonds with an export volume of $803 million during the same period.

In the first nine months of 2004, export volume of processed diamonds reached $788 million. The anticipated export volume for the whole year was more than $1 billion, the report said.