In the first quarter of 2004, the volume of China's building materials export reached 1.368 billion US dollars, up 32.94 percent over the t same period in 2002, according to statistics from China's building materials industry association.

In recent years, glazed tile, toilet ceramics and porcelain wares, and glass products have become the main kinds of exported building materials, replacing nonmetal mineral products, the statistics show.

In the early 1990s, the volume of the building material export mainly fluctuated with the demand of the domestic market, meaning the export rose when the domestic demand was weak and it decreasedwhen the demand was strong, experts said.

But the rise of building material export this year is growing simultaneously with the booming of the demands on China's domesticmarket, and the export has become one of the major driving forces to boost the building material industry.

Source: Xinhua