Xiamen Stone Fair,the international fair for stone, machinery and tooling, is looking to be even bigger and better this year. The exhibition will take place from March 6 to March 9, 2014 at the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center (XICEC)in Xiamen, China. Held annually, the stone fair provides an opportunity for buyers and sellers of stone products and services from around the world to source an astounding array of the very latest technologies, innovations and techniques.

According to the organizer, Xiamen Jinhongxin Exhibition Co. Ltd., the fair is expected to attract over 2,000 exhibitors. Among them, 512 companies will be international exhibitors from 54 countries, and the show floor will also include national pavilions from Turkey, Brazil, Italy, Egypt, Spain, Portugal, France, Finland, Mexico, Oman, Iran and India. The Xiamen Stone Fair will provide approximately 1.765 million square feet of exhibit space (164,000 square meters) of exhibition space for companies.  Last year was a milestone for the Xiamen Stone Fair. A newly built exhibition center was put into use as an overseas hall. The number of exhibitors and visitors hit a new peak in the history of the fair.

Natural stone exhibits at the event will focus on interior and exterior use, along with monuments and landscape stone. On the technology side, exhibits will include machinery for stone quarrying and processing, as well as equipment for transportation and installation. It will also focus on tooling and accessories.

World Stone Congress 2014

The World Stone Congress aims to promote communication and cooperation for global stone industry professionals. In the 2014 edition, World Stone Congress will include the following events:

Stone Summit -- March 6, 2014   2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Conference Hall on the fourth floor, XICEC

Xiamen, A City to Achieve Win-Win Cooperation

Presidents of stone associations and leading stone companies will introduce the development of the stone industry in each country. They will share their views of development strategies and achieving "win-win cooperation."

Stone Design Forum -- March 7, 2014   10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Venue: Conference Room 401, XICEC

Stone designers and architects from all over the world are invited to reveal the role and the forward way of stone in interior usage, thus facilitating the perfect combination of stone and design.

Quarries & Mining Tech Launch -- March 7, 2014   2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Venue: Conference Room 401, XICEC

Attendees will get the latest information about quarry investments and mining technology. There will be a special area to present relevant information outside of conference room 401 during the fair.

Facts and figures from China and Xiamen

Under the challenging economic environment, China's total transaction volume of stone imports and exports in 2012 still managed to grow at a stable pace. It reached $8.06 billion, which is an increase of 5.5% over the previous. The importing volume from 101 countries in 2012 reached $2.69 billion, an increase of 7.2%. Meanwhile, the exporting volume increased by 4.7% compared to 2011.

Major source of imports (over $100 million) include Turkey, India, Egypt, Brazil, Spain, Italy and Iran.

Major export targets (over $100 million) include: Korea, Japan, the U.S., Germany, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Vietnam, Russia, Belgium, UAE, Iran and the United Kingdom. Among the rapid increase of export volume in Africa, Oceania and Central Asia is worth mentioning as well.

A total of one-third of the exports from the Xiamen Port are natural stone. Thanks to the rich stone resources in Fujian Province, the Xiamen stone industry is developing rapidly. According to the Customs Statistics Data, Xiamen port has become the world's largest stone trading center, with its transaction volume representing over 60% in China and 15% globally.

Xiamen is bounded by the largest stone processing base, with over 1,200 trading companies and 10,000 stone processing factories in its neighboring area.

There are four distribution centers and markets in Xiamen. More than 1,000 kinds of stone are imported and exported through the Xiamen Port each year.