China now produces and consumes more stone products than any other country in the world, according to reports from the 2002 China International Stone Products and Equipment Exhibition held recently in east China’s coastal city of Xiamen.
The total output value of stone in 2001 in China stood at 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) and stone consumption at 500 million cubic meters. The total value of import and export exceeded US$1.4 billion, increasing 15.08 percent over the previous year, making China the second in the world in stone exports and fifth in stone imports. The total value of stone exports and imports through Xiamen Port accounted for over two-thirds of the nation’s total, which makes Xiamen the country’s stone trade base.
Before 1990, China mainly exported raw or unprocessed stone materials. After 1996, finished stone exports took first place. At present, the two main stone-processing groups are located in Guangdong's Zhujiang Delta -- places like Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzheng - as welll as Fujian’s coastal areas like Xiamen and Fuzhou. Finished stone products exported from these places include slabs for architectural decoration, stone steles and pagodas for parks or temples, infrastructure materials for public constructions or steles for tombs.
(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2002, translated by Unisumoon for china.org.cn March 30, 2002)
