China's trade volume in stone slabs amounted to US$2.96 billion in 2005, ranking among the top in the world, said sources with the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters Monday.

China recorded the second largest trade volume of stone slabs in 2004, only next to the veteran, Italy.

The ranking for 2005 will be available when the figures for other countries are released, said Wang Yuanjiang, vice president and secretary general of the Chamber on the sixth China (Xiamen) International Stone Exhibition press conference held here.

In 2005, China exported 9.46 million tons of stone slabs for US$2.14 billion, up 30 percent and 34 percent, respectively, while imports, mainly from countries like India, Turkey, Brazil, Egypt and Spain, stood at 4.56 million tons and US$817 million, up 8.66 percent and 9.73 percent, respectively.

Wang said that the majority, or 98.5 percent, of the country's imports were raw materials, while more than 95 percent of the exports were manufactured products.

Xiamen, in east China's Fujian Province, where the Exhibition is to be held, is the largest stone slab export and import port in China. Xiamen port handled 7 million tons of stone slabs in 2005, involving US$1.72 billion, covering over 60 percent of China's stone slab trade, said Xiong Yanliang, director of the Xiamen Municipal Trade Development Bureau.

The China (Xiamen) International Stone Slab Exhibition, scheduled for March 3-6, is expected to be turned into the top-brand exhibition in Asia, and the world's fourth, Xiong said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2006)