The production of stone materials in China is mainly distributed in the three major stone production provinces of Fujian Province in the south, Guangdong Province and Shandong Province in the east. Fujian and Shandong are the major raw materials and processing production provinces, while Guangdong is mainly engaged in the processing of imported stone materials. The above three provinces account for 85% of the production of stone materials in China. In addition, some other provinces, such as Sichuan Province, Shanxi Province, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan Province, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Anhui, have a certain amount of varieties and production. However, the main producing areas of Chinese stone materials are mainly in Fujian and Shandong provinces. In particular, Fujian's production accounts for more than 80% of the country's total.
The development of China's stone industry, whether for domestic consumption or import and export trade, is now growing at a double-digit rate every year, which is determined by market demand. The development of the domestic construction industry has driven the growth of stone consumption. It is estimated that the annual domestic consumption of stone should remain above 250 million square meters in the next few years. From January to April 2013, China's stone exports totaled 1.789 billion US dollars, an increase of 20.4% year on year. Excluding the commodities under the customs code 25174900 (broken grains, fragments and powders of other kinds of stones listed in items 2515 and 2516), the export volume of stones was 1.775 billion US dollars, up 20.3% year on year.
Stone, as a building material product, accounts for a considerable proportion in the global building material output value, and this proportion will continue to expand in the next 5 to 10 years. According to insiders, as a typical mineral resource, stone is divided into marble, granite, sandstone and other categories, with thousands of varieties. Due to its scarcity, environmental protection, pure nature and high quality, it has always been the preferred material for large-scale public construction projects, medium and high-end buildings, and home decoration around the world.
Under the background of vigorous economic and social development, China's stone industry is ushering in a new round of development tide driven by the acceleration of urbanization, national investment and upgrading of residents' consumption. According to the statistics of relevant departments, the main business income of stone enterprises above designated size in China reached 241.4 billion yuan in 2011, an increase of 20.6% over the previous year. From January to September 2012, the main business income of stone enterprises above designated size increased by 25.3% over the same period of the previous year, and the total profit increased by 29.3%. The total amount and quantity of stone imports and exports have also increased significantly.
Global integration has promoted the development of China's stone industry. Statistics show that the foreign trade of China's stone industry has maintained a high growth trend in recent years. Guangdong Yunfu and Fujian Nan'an, as two major stone export bases in China, have accounted for more than 15% of the global stone trade. With the intensification of the European debt crisis, stone consumption in developed countries such as Europe and the United States will rely more on Chinese stone. China's stone has surpassed Italy and Spain, the traditional stone powers, and become the world's largest stone production, consumption and export country. Now, many international customers who purchase stones from Italy, Türkiye, Brazil and other countries have turned to China, and the share of Chinese stones in the international stone market is increasing.