China’s lab-grown diamond exports soared by 65.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, driven by an unlikely catalyst: the global AI boom.
According to Shanghai Customs data, synthetic diamond exports cleared through the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) (photo) reached 1.41 billion yuan between January and June. Whilst fine jewellery still accounts for roughly 80 percent of consumption, the sector is experiencing rapid expansion due to industrial demand for advanced chip cooling.
Synthetic diamonds possess exceptional thermal conductivity—roughly five times that of copper. As high-density AI processors generate extreme operational heat, conventional thermal management materials are reaching their physical limits. Incorporating diamond composite substrates and heat spreaders into next-generation graphics processing units (GPUs) significantly lowers operating temperatures and optimises processor performance.
The market was further buoyed earlier this year when tech giant Nvidia announced plans to adopt diamond-composite thermal solutions for its advanced GPU architectures. Analysts project that the global market for chip thermal management could expand exponentially by 2030.
China currently dominates the global sector, supplying an estimated 60-90 percent of total synthetic diamond output. SDE president Lin Qiang noted that whilst natural diamond imports historically dominated exchange trades, domestic lab-grown diamonds have rapidly emerged as a key export powerhouse as applications expand beyond jewellery. (Photo courtesy: Shanghai Diamond Exchange)
05-10-2026
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