The highlight of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange's brief life came at its opening five months ago when Mayor Xu Kuangdi ceremoniously struck a giant gong to the applause of assembled dignitaries and well-wishers. Since then, silence. The exchange is still in business, occupying the sixth and seventh floors of China's tallest skyscraper, the 88-story Jin Mao Tower in Pudong. But the VIPs are gone, the exchange is quiet as a morgue, and there are zero diamond traders in sight. In fact, not a carat of the precious stone has changed hands at the exchange since it opened.
New furniture remains mostly encased in plastic.
Offices meant to house support services such as local customs and banking staff sit empty. China has huge potential. Yet they haven't done anything. China's impending entry into the World Trade Organization is about to bring profound changes. This is reality from the front lines of Shanghai's ambitious drive to be a regional and someday global financial center.