XIAMEN, CHINA - The 2009 Xiamen Stone Fair took place from March 6 to 9 at the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center in China, and it boasted 1,211 exhibiting companies from 42 countries.

The event sprawls across nearly 970,000 square feet of exhibition space, and it attracted 86,713 industry professionals, including 13,896 foreign visitors from 125 countries. National pavilions of overseas producers boomed in this edition of the event, and the International Hall expanded to more than 100,000 square feet, an increase of 43% from the 2008 edition.

These national pavilions - representing a range of stone producers from a single nation - featured signage with a common theme to attract visitors, and there were groupings of companies from Turkey, Italy, Spain, Brazil, India, Iran, France, Egypt and Finland.

In addition to these nations, exhibitors came from Australia, Portugal, South Africa, Israel, Sweden, Norway, Pakistan, Greece, Canada, Germany, Japan, Palestine, Armenia, Russia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Vietnam, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Thailand. In all, 42 different nations were represented by the exhibitors at the 2009 Xiamen Stone Fair.

Of course, exhibitors hailing from China were also a main focus at the event, and they displayed blocks, slabs, mosaics, carved work, sinks and other architectural elements in granite, marble and other materials.

In addition to stone materials, exhibitors represented stoneworking machinery and accessories such as blades and other tooling.

Visitors to the 2009 Xiamen Stone Fair included manufacturers, quarry owners, contractors, architects, designers, builders, distributors, kitchen specialists and retailers from across China and the world, and organizers report that attendance increased by 22.16% over 2008.

In addition to the exhibition, the 2009 World Stone Congress was held on March 5 as part of the 2009 Xiamen Stone Fair. This event is supported by a number of stone associations and magazines, and presentations included timely subjects such as “Opportunities and Challenges for the Stone Industry in Today’s Economy.” This congress will continue to be held annually during the Xiamen Stone Fair period, focusing on the latest topics of interest.

The 2010 edition of the Xiamen Stone Fair will be held next March, and it is expected to have 1,300 exhibitors in the same large exhibition space. The fair organization committee stated that it will continue to promote the fair on a broad level in markets around the world.