The third Guizhou (Anshun) International Stone Expo, celebrating the work by companies engaged in stone production, will kick off in Guizhou province on Aug 26. It will attract many more foreign exhibitors this year, drawn by the event's openness, according to the expo's organizing committee.

Guizhou is a mountainous region known for its substantial stone deposits, which include a variety of types including marble and granite.

More than 400 exhibitors will attend this year's expo, a four-day event.

Among them are participants from Hong Kong and Taiwan and 20 countries, including Italy, the United States, Russia, Canada, Poland, Mexico and Greece.

The number of foreign exhibitors at the 2017 expo are up by about 20 compared with last year's levels. The organizers say it will also attract more buyers, as well as domestic exhibitors.

Nearly 250 companies engaged in stone production from other domestic regions, such as Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu provinces and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will display their work at the expo.

More than 600 professional purchasing companies will attend the event, the organizing committee said.

The expo will cover an area of 100,000 square meters and its exhibition pavilion features the international, Hong Kong and Taiwan area and the Guizhou stone experience hall.

Wu Qiang, director at the Guizhou Economy and Information Technology Commission, said the Guizhou stone experience pavilion is a highlight of this year's expo. Twenty-two stone companies from the province have set up "perpetual experience halls" in the pavilion to exhibit Guizhou's highly regarded stone, Wu said.

The expo will be hosted in a professional stone expo center in Zhenning county in the city of Anshun in Guizhou. The province's government has agreed to make the center the permanent venue for future stone expos.

The decision also aims to build on the experiences from the previous expos, local officials said. Last year's event welcomed more than 300 exhibition companies and attracted companies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and 15 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.

Guests and businesspeople from domestic regions including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, executives from China's top 100 stone companies, scholars and representatives from stone associations also attended the 2016 expo.

Trading projects worth more than 40.08 billion yuan ($6.01 billion) were signed at the expo and investment projects worth about 28.14 billion yuan were inked.

The organizing committees of the previous two expos launched activities for selecting and evaluating the high quality varieties and products of Guizhou's stone. They chose 18 stone varieties and 48 products made by more than 20 stone manufacturing companies, including Guizhou Chenchun Stone Industry Co.

A national stone carving and design competition will also be held along with the expo. It aims to increase the expo's influence and encourage experts, master craftsmen and leading companies to support Guizhou and to help its stone and processing businesses to improve the quality of their products and artware.

This year, some craftsmen will carve on site and receive evaluations of their work. A series of contests will be featured, including a design competition for the Year of the Rooster, a square sculpture design contest and a design contest for Guizhou stone tourism craftwork.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/24/2017 page12)