China has shipped its first “Italian style”...

China has shipped its first “Italian style” marble to a Beverly Hills firm.

Petro Oil & Gas in Beverly Hills said the marble and synthetic marble tiles, produced under a licensing agreement with China, should provide a big price break for the construction industry and become widely used in the interior and exterior of commercial buildings and homes in North America.

Meanwhile, Petro’s offshore (Hong Kong) bank agreed to fund chemical plants jointly owned by the California company and various Chinese consortiums. The projects include polyurethane plants in Liuzhou, Shenzhen and Dailin.

Petro was formerly a natural resource company that has since restructured to concentrate on joint venture manufacturing, import/export and technology development activities with China.