The first China Glassware Expo opens in Qixian county in central Shanxi province on Oct 11. [Photo/sxrb.com]

The first China Glassware Expo opened in Qixian county, Shanxi province, on Oct 11, with more than 1,000 businesspeople and experts from across China in attendance.

More than 100 companies in Qixian, Pujiang, Hejian and Wenxi counties, as well as top national companies in the glassware industry displayed their products in the 6,000-square-meter exhibition area.

A summit themed around glassware for daily use and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as an investment promotion meeting which attracted 13.83 billion yuan ($1.99 billion), took place during the two-day expo.

Attendees also visited local glassware manufacturers and quality testing centers, discussing trade, technological innovation and arts related to glassware.

With glassware as one of its pillar industry, Qixian county has the largest hand-blown glassware production and export base, and hand-painted processing base in China. Since 1918, the industry's development in the county has gone from small individual workshops, to State-owned enterprises, before the entry of private companies and a total transformation thanks to increased foreign trade.

Currently, the county has 43 glassware companies and some 200 related companies producing more than 6,000 kinds of products in eight categories, among which the output of hand-blown goblets accounts for 80 percent of the national total and is exported to more than 80 countries and regions. Around 70 percent of glassware products produced in Qixian county are sold to overseas markets, with exports to countries along the Belt and Road accounting for 40 percent.

By the end of 2017, the annual output value of the local glassware sector reached 4.2 billion yuan and about 45 percent of the hand-blown glassware produced in China came from Qixian county, making the county a significant cluster for the glassware industry.

Through the national glassware expo, the county will display and promote its glassware products, and further grow the influence of its brand in domestic and overseas markets.