The world's first set of ceramic stamps -- 11 pieces of 0.3 mm thick ceramic chips -- was unveiled in Jingdezhen in east China's Jiangxi Province, a spokesperson with the China National Philatelic Corporation said Tuesday.

The company will release only 10,000 limited edition sets of the "World Expo National Ceramic Stamp", made with Chinese traditional craftsmanship and modern techniques, the spokesperson added.h The patterns of the ceramic stamps are based on 11 World Expo-themed stamps released by China since 2007. Different from paper stamps, these stamps, it is claimed, will not fade, corrode or catch fire.

All the ceramic stamps are hand-made. Each 0.3 millimeter ceramic chip uses a combination of patented ceramic technology, traditional craftsmanship and modern techniques.

"Each of these ceramic stamps is unique in the world. It overcomes the limitation of paper stamps and shows the world the creativity of Jingdezhen as the ceramic capital of China in modern times," said Liu Jingbo, director of the Jingdezhen Municipal Philatelic Corporation.

He said by releasing the stamp sets, Jingdezhen hoped to spread interest in traditional Chinese ceramic art and the Shanghai Expo.

Jingdezhen has a history of producing quality pottery going back 1,700 years. The 2010 China Jingdezhen International Ceramic Fair is being held from Oct. 18 to Oct. 22.

(Xinhua October 21, 2010)