Introduction of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Project
One：Background of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Project
Thanks to the reform and opening up policy of our country, Nanan’s economy has been developing rapidly. Fundamental facility investment and real estate construction project offer a huge market for the upsurge and growth of Nanan’s stone industry. Stone industry is one of Nanan’s pillar industries and it is mainly distributed in the south and midland of our city centering on Shuitou town. There are more than 1500 stone enterprises, among which 268 are above designated size. The stone industry has more than one hundred thousand employees. In 2013, the scale of Nanan’s stone industry is about 38.5 billion RMB, 29.301 billion RMB above designated size output value, rising 16 percent on year, occupying 60 percent of the stone output and 70 percent of the stone products’ market share in China. Its stone trade has extended to over 130 countries and districts, its imports and exports stone quantities accounting for 60 percent and 55 percent of our country’s total amount respectively. It has become the biggest international stone manufacture and trade center in both scale and type.

In order to switch and upgrade this traditional industry and win initial success for Nanan’s business card as “International Stone City”, last year our city has launched the project of making 100 billion stone industry cluster program, in which the idea of compiling “China·Shuitou Stone Index” has been proposed. The compilation work has been listed as one of the major tasks to realize the aim of building stone 100 billion industry cluster. By adapting the index operation experience of “Yiwu·China Commodity Index” and on the basis of Shuitou’s stone market, the stone index has been researched and developed. The development tendency and market variation trend have been described and analyzed in the form of index to provide information consultation service for all parties in the stone trade and to guide the stone market into the index era.

Two: The Significant Meaning of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Project
Index has the function of assembling historical data, describing and predicting the long term development tendency of a business. The longer it functions, the more value it contains. The stone index can provide long term data sources of the stone industry and stone market for all parties. The compilation and publication of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” will be the signpost and barometer of the stone industry. It will offer more scientific and more rapid information service for the government’s industry guidance, enterprises’ production& purchase and users’ consumption. It has positive significance for digging Shuitou’s stone market resources, hastening Shuitou to win the “discourse power” in stone industry and accelerating the transformation and updat of Nanan’s stone industry.
First, it will help the government to grasp stone industry trends and development tendency of the market. It will improve the scientific management level of the government by offering it scientific decision basis for industry and market adjustment.

Second, it will provide the factories and businessmen with consultation on price and prosperity. It will give the purchaser and consumers market information service. Therefore, it will popularize the idea of rational consumption and improve consumption quality.

Third, it will transform Shuitou to production center, trade center, logistics center, information center and financial center of China stone industry by exerting Shuitou’s leadership in the field of stone technique, market and so on. And at the same time, it will play a positive role in maintaining market order, regulating market actions and promoting local economy.

Three: Introduction of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Project
(One) The Concept and Compilation Principle of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Project
“China·Shuitou Stone Index” project is the first comprehensive index in our country that applies the scientific principle of modern statistic index, comprehensive evaluation theory, price index and prosperity index to systematically describe and reflect the development trends, product value quotation and market fluctuations. Nanan Development and Reform Bureau entrusts the statistics index research group of Zhejiang Gongshang University to develop this index. The research group members have gone down to Nanan stone manufacture enterprises and trade markets to investigate their production, circulation, construction and consumption. On the basis of full grasp the characteristics of stone industry and scientifically dividing stone products, the group scientifically decide on their category weight, design a complete set of program including “stone price index and prosperity index” system, data collecting system, index calculation model, index compilation procedure, organization arrangement and staff distribution. The index has taken on the shape after field investigation, theoretical research, expert consultation, practical exploration, trial compilation and test run.
(Two) Sample Range and Representative selecion
“China·Shuitou Stone Index” employs the method of layer-dividing sampling to collect basic data. It extracts 70 sample enterprises from above designated size stone enterprises in Shuitou town, Guanqiao town and Shijing town, gathering 50 companies’ stone prices from the above-mentioned enterprises.
According to the requirement of price index compilation and real management situation of Shuitou stone market, the sample enterprises first ascertain 5 to 15 varieties (commodity names) that are comparatively stable and have longer market period. The rule of representative selecion is as follows: among every third category we selec the varieties with bigger output (trade volume) and stable production, being on the market for a longer time and occupying the largest slice of the same variety consumption. We choose 2 to 4 representatives to ensure their stability, comparability and market influence among every third category.
(Three) The Index System of “China·Shuitou Stone Index”
“China·Shuitou Stone Index” is composed of Shuitou stone price index and its prosperity index. Shuitou stone price index falls into four general category indexes of marbles, granites, synthetic marbles and others (including travertine, quartzite and jade). Every general category includes block price index, slab price index, finished product price index. They are published in the form of weekly and monthly fixed base index, monthly index and chain price index. Shuitou stone prosperity index is the dynamic relative number that reflects the stone industry and market prosperity of Shuitou town. While referring to the investigation and calculation method of the national industry and enterprise prosperity index, the index is obtained by calculation on the basis of the result of enterprisers’ subjective investigation.
(Four) Data Gathering and Compilation Procedure
This march, the index office printed A Letter to the Leading Official of Stone Enterprises and delivered them to enterprises in person. The staff of the index office had face to face communication with leading officials of the enterprises and strived for their support by promoting, explaining and consulting them on the project. Meanwhile, the index office established interview system on sample enterprises. The staff had been divided into three groups to contact sample enterprises, every group in charge of about 20 collecting companies. We stepped up efforts of data collection by interviewing, getting acquainted with the management situation of the enterprises, directing them to fill out the forms, leading them to get involved. We embarked on gathering basic data in April. Up to now, we have gathered over 400 stone representative prices.
After submitting the data, the staff of the index office carefully collected, reorganized, examined and checked them to make sure that they were correct. Then they put them into the index computer system to compile before publishing them on the media platform of index website.
(Five) Index Publication
1.Time of Publication
The stone price index is published every week. Every Monday the price index of the previous week is published; the stone prosperity index is published monthly. At the beginning of every month, the prosperity index of the previous month is published.
2.Publication Form
“China·Shuitou Stone Index” is released to the whole society through “China·Shuitou Stone Index” website, television, newspaper and magazines. We are going to expand its publication channel in accordance with the requirement of promoting index work.
3.Publication Content
(1)We announce the stone’s general price index, general prosperity index, the price index of the first category and second category, including their numbers, charts and index tables.
(2)The rise and fall of the top five in the second category price index and prosperity index.
Index analysis, market quotation analysis and comments.。
(Six) Test run of the index website
In order to build a promotion platform for stone index, we start the construction of “China·Shuitou Stone Index” website simultaneously. Under the joint efforts of the research group and index office, the website had a test run in August. So far, the interface and operation module have been shaped fundamentally, which include index chart, index comments, industry trend, policy guidance, people interview, sample enterprise presence, product exhibition etc. We keep enriching and updating its content all the time. “China·Shuitou Stone Index” website（www. cnststoneindex.com）will be built into an important window to display and promote the industrial information and market quotations of Nanan’s stone industry. It aims at ranking among the top websites in China’s stone industry.
Four: “China·Shuitou Stone Index” Has Passed Experts’ Demonstration Smoothly
On September 28, “China·Shuitou Stone Index” demonstration conference was hold in Shuitou Dongfang Wuzhou Hotel, wher the compilation project has passed the review and demonstration of the expert group headed by Professor Jin Yongjin from School of Statistics, Renmin University of China. It shows that Nanan’s stone industry has entered the “index era”. The scientificity and maneuverability of the index have been fully approved. The experts attending the conference all agree that the index system has solid compilation theory and the content and method it employed is very scientific. Its birth means that the statistic index theory has been applied to stone industry for the first time. It bears practical advancement and has hit the anticipated research mark. The experts were in full agreement with its great realistic significance. At the same time, the experts came up with valuable suggestions and proposals to perfect the stone index project. The successful demonstration of this project will definitely bring a new opportunity for the innovation and transformation of Nanan’s stone industry.
We believe that in the wake of the official publication of “China·Shuitou Stone Index”, Nanan Shuitou’s stone industry will step forward on the road to internationalization and informatization. Nanan Shuitou’s stone industry will have a more glorious tomorrow.