The coastal city Xiamen in Fujian province held the first Cat Economy Industry Innovation Exposition, or CEIE, from March 10 to 12. The event is a platform to showcase the latest products and develop the cat economy.

The expo held professional cat competitions and was attended by cat supply merchants and a large number of cat owners and pet lovers. It also had several themed sections including "National Cat Rehabilitation Center", "It's Not Easy to Raise Cats" and "China Purebred Cat Evaluation Competition by World Cat Culture Federation", and displayed products such as cat food, cat supplies, smart items, beauty care and medical care.

Xiamen has many cat cultural tourism IPs such as Ding'aozai Street and Gulangyu Island, which is known as "Cat Island" by tourists. Statistics show that in 2022, there were more than 200,000 cat owners in Xiamen. 

"We mainly evaluate cats based on five aspects: health, features, appearance, maintenance of the owner and personality," said Na Xu, chief judge of the World Cat Competition Federation (WCCF), adding that 90 purebred cats had participated in the event and Xiamen citizens' awareness about cat-raising ranks first in the country.

Na said the event will bring new opportunities to Xiamen's pet industry, popularize cats that are beautiful and in line with aesthetics of the Chinese people and boost the city's cat economy.

The expo not only included professional purebred cat competitions, but also held recreational ones to attract more pet owners as well as cats of different ages, genders and groups.

There were also cat booths related to pet camping, cat culture, peripherals, cat-friendly coffee and hotels.

A cat lover plays with cats at Cat Economy Industry Innovation Exposition. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]