At that time, the industry was still rather chaotic, so in order to promote the healthy development of Wuzhou, local gem businessmen established Wuzhou Gem Chamber of Commerce in September 1999. In 2003, Wuzhou Jewel City, which occupies more than 20,000 square meters, was built to provide a safe, efficient and standardized trading platform.

According to Huang, there are now 576 jewelry shops in Wuzhou, including 55 foreign ones, which are mainly from Thailand, Russia, the United States and Italy. Huang added that there are more than 50 newly built shops still being decorated, which have already been sold.

Wuzhou Xin Xing Gems Co. Ltd. was one of the first foreign-funded companies in Wuzhou. Its founder is Ye Junting, a businessman from Thailand. After 15 years, the company has established itself as a leader in the artificial jewelry business with an annual output of more than 10 million gems. Its growth is a mirror of the industry in Wuzhou.

In 1995, Ye opened an artificial jewel processing factory in Wuzhou with raw materials provided by businessmen from Taiwan, hiring more than 10,000 people from rural areas. In 1997, he launched another company in Thailand, which sells the artificial jewels made in China around the world.

In 2000, Ye set up a base for processing the raw materials of artificial jewels in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan Province, so he no longer had to import them from abroad.

After 2000, the company's development increased dramatically and in 2003 it moved into Wuzhou Jewel City.

"In addition to geographical advantage, the development of the artificial gem industry of Wuzhou also relies on the preferable economic environment of China," said Ye.

Wuzhou has become the center of trading, distribution, quality supervision, training, research and development in the gem industry of China, which has created 120,000 jobs in the city.

In 2000, the privately owned Wuzhou Gem School was established. More than 20 teachers work at the school, providing training for every link of the jewelry-processing chain. According to the headmaster of the school Wu Zhigang, about 4,000 people have been trained at the school, and most of them now work in Wuzhou Jewel City. The school has also trained another 30,000 migrant workers, who went on to find jobs in the jewel-processing industry, he added.

Since 2004, Wuzhou has hosted the International Gem Festival five times, testament to the city's reputation as an artificial jewelry center.