How Chinese demand for jade fuels a deadly, corrupt industry in Myanmar

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Another deadly incident in Myanmar has resurfaced long-standing conversations about an industry to which Hong Kong and China have close ties. A landslide at a jade mine near Hpakant, in northern Kachin state, left at least three people dead and dozens missing in December 2021. Disasters like this regularly hit the open-pit mines in the state, which is a huge...

Another deadly incident in Myanmar has resurfaced long-standing conversations about an industry to which Hong Kong and China have close ties.

The workers bearing the brunt of the industry’s negative impacts are informal miners who scavenge for jade with their hands, often out of dumping sites where large companies that use heavy machinery to extract significant quantities of jade dispose of mining waste, according to a report by economic researchers the International Growth Centre .

The loosely regulated large-scale operations have created the conditions for landslides and flooding, threatened local water sources, and drastically changed the area’s landscape, according to the IGC report. Meanwhile, jade exports from Hong Kong grew by 40 per cent in 2020, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Between 70 to 90 per cent of jade mined from Myanmar is believed to make its way to China , according to Global Witness. High-quality jade found in Myanmar can fetch a high price – in April 2021, a jade bangle was auctioned off in Hong Kong by Sotheby’s for just over HK$30 million .

 

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