Stone-Ideas.com 
“China’s stone industry is currently at a crucial turning point. It is undergoing a transformation process that focuses on more high-quality products, more environmentally friendly processes, and entirely new international brands.” This quote comes from a status report presented by the nationwide China Stone Material Association (CSMA) at the Xiamen 2026 trade fair.
The report continues: “In the future, the focus of the import and export business will shift from large volumes to quality and efficiency. Key measures such as diversifying market strategies, developing environmentally friendly and high-quality manufacturing processes, optimizing the import and export structure, and aligning with international environmental trade regulations will continuously strengthen the industry’s competitiveness and drive China’s steady transformation from a significant stone trading nation to a leading stone manufacturing nation.”
Regarding domestic demand, the association anticipates more environmentally friendly construction and therefore greater demand for “green” products, thus predicting a favorable starting point for natural stone. The goal is also to establish a “system for green stone standards.”
The report reflects the current situation in 2025.
Here, the report emphasizes that China also has a premium market for luxury goods: Many customers desire both exclusive stone varieties and high-quality design, but domestic companies are not particularly well-positioned in this area. This leads to the “promotion of imports of advanced processing equipment, environmentally friendly technologies, and intelligent production lines to modernize the industry through plant upgrades,” according to the report.
Conversely, demand from traditional luxury markets, particularly South Korea and the USA, declined in 2025.
Overall, the core principle for the development of China’s stone industry, both domestically and internationally, is “moving away from selling raw materials and towards selling design, services, and standards.”
The report also mentions “holistic solutions” at this point.
While a significant slowdown in global trade growth is expected for 2026, due to trade policy uncertainties and tariff measures, “China is expected to continue experiencing growth,” albeit at a slower pace than before. “Looking ahead to 2026, the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the development of China’s foreign trade – including the stone trade – faces both opportunities and challenges, but the long-term positive fundamentals remain unchanged.”
The association sees room for growth “in the continuous development of new markets within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative,” namely Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe: “Western sanctions have led to traditional suppliers like Italy and Turkey withdrawing from the Russian market, giving Chinese companies the opportunity to close the supply gap for high-quality stone and processing equipment.”
We note that if you look at the number of exhibitors at the Stone Industry trade show in Moscow 2026, you can see that this has already happened.
Other countries, such as Vietnam, are expanding their own stone processing capacities, which could lead to lower demand for Chinese products in the lower and middle price segments in the future.
The association states that the abolition of export tax refunds will lead to short-term difficulties: “From April 2026, VAT refunds will apply in China to 33 categories of stone products (including processed marble products). This will cause companies to lose approximately 10% of their cost advantage, directly impacting the traditional export model based on low prices and high sales volumes.”
Our pictures show presentations at the Habitat Interior Design Exhibition (XHDLF) 2024 at Xiamen Stone Fair.
China Stone Material Association (Chinese)
