Jewelry brands will increasingly seek external capital, try to be listed in the future, or become involved in mergers and acquisitions, Miao Zhiguo, general manager of Shenzhen Ideal Jewelry Co. Ltd., predicted on Tuesday.

Miao said if 2015 was the year jewelry brands began attracting capital, then real progress will be evident this year. More companies are getting listed, and there are more movements on mergers and acquisitions, according to a report by National Business Daily, a Chinese nationwide financial and economic daily newspaper.

Chinese jewelers Tesiro Jewelry Inc. and Chow Tai Seng Jewelry Co. Ltd have already listed.

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A lot of room left in the jewelry industry

China’s jewelry industry has a market size as big as 600 billion yuan (87.1 billion US dollars), according to a report by GF Securities. With only a small number of companies listed, there is plenty of room for the industry to soak up more funding.

In November 2016, Chinese jeweler Tesiro successfully listed, then it acquired an 81 percent stake in Belgian jeweler Joaillerie Leysen Freres SA for 4.35 million euros (4.88 million US dollars). In April 2017, Chow Tai Seng Jewelry Co. Ltd. was listed in Shenzhen.

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Ideal Jewelry's Zhu Xinwu told National Business Daily that on the Shenzhen stock exchange "we felt there should be five to eight listed companies, but there is only two at the point. This means, the awareness of becoming public is still low."

"Jewelry brands have been battling in the market individually, making the ability to fight against risks very short," Zhu added.