An armed robber escaped with jewelry worth 300,000 yuan (US$47,476) yesterday, after holding up a store in south China's Guangdong Province.

The robber did not fire the gun and no one was injured, China News Service reported.

The jewelry store is?cordoned off after the robbery.

An official of Ruiyi Jewelry Store in Huizhou City, surnamed Lin, said the gunman, wearing a motorcycle helmet and yellow jacket, broke into the store at 9:30am.

Brandishing a gun that looked like a rifle or a shotgun, the man ordered the 10 staff not to move, said Li.

Then he smashed two glass counters, emptied the contents into a bag and calmly walked out.

According to Lin, no one was waiting outside for the robber to make a getaway.

Police said the gunman took around 1 kilogram of jewelry worth 300,000 yuan. Officers appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

This was the third armed robbery in jewelry stores in Huizhou City since last September. Suspects have been held over the earlier incidents.

On September 22, two men armed with two handguns and a shotgun made off with jewelry worth more than 1.1 million yuan from a department store

Two suspects were held later that month and all the stolen jewelry retrieved.

And on November 29, six men with knives, hammers and an imitation gun robbed a jewelry store in Gaoxin District, escaping with jewelry worth three million yuan.

Six suspects were held by December 7 and all the stolen goods recovered.