China quick to cash in on royal engagement.(Reprint)

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Britain may be on the other side of the world, but Chinese manufacturers are cashing in on the British royal wedding as they churn out tens of thousands of replica royal engagement rings.

Last November, Prince William and his beaming fiancee Kate Middleton showed off the blue sapphire ring, surrounded with diamonds, which had belonged to the late Princess Diana.

Dozens of factories located in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu in Zhejiang province, home to the world's largest wholesale market for a wide range of small items from pencils, to socks, to cups, have been rushing to produce cheap copies of the ring to meet surging global demand.

Jewellery manufacturer Zhou Mingwang said he jumped at the opportunity of making the replica rings as soon as the engagement was announced.

"When they announced their engagement, it was just by chance that I saw their ring on the internet. I felt that this had a great commem-orative value and thought there was a good market for the product," Zhou added.

The cost of the original ring was estimated to be around [pounds sterling]30,000 ($46,810), but the imitation rings are selling for a wholesale price of as little as 3 yuan ($0.45) for the cheapest models and up to 50 yuan ($7.56) for rings made with better materials.

Orders are coming in fast and Zhou said his rings were being sought by customers in the UK and the United States, as well as other countries in Western Europe.

Besides the rings, Chinese factories are also producing other wedding memorabilia replicas such as cups, plates and key chains associated with the soon-to-be wed royal couple.

Factory owners said they were confident of strong sales ahead of the wedding on April 29 and even after that.

Fu Xuxian, owner of the Yiwu Unnar Jewellery factory, said his factory has been making different samples of products such as mugs and mini teddy bears featuring the couple. But the replica rings are the ones flying off the shelves.

"In the United Kingdom, the British royal family, including the Queen, is quite popular with the public. I feel that memorabilia associated with the royal family should be able to sell well in the long term," Fu said.

"Of course, the golden period for sales would be from now until April 29."

This article was originally published by www.7days.ae.

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