"China has been a loyal visitor to the exhibition, since we signed a Memorandum of Understanding five years ago with the China Gem traders Association," said Juzar Adamaly, chairman of FACETS 2012 said in a statement.

The show will be held from September 05 to 08 at the BMICH hall in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo.

Organizers said all 154 booths of the exhibition had been sold out.

The show is organized by theSri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association and is backed by the the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board.

Sri Lanka exports about 600 million dollars of gem and jewellery with a target of a billion US dollars by 2015.

According to the EDB, the exhibition is expected to garner interest, buyers and sellers with the target of achieving 1 billion USD by 2015.

At present Sri Lanka is in a range between 555 and 600 million with a target of 1 billion USD by 2015.

Ziqufi Ismail, secretary to the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association said buyers from China, Russia and India are keen on Sri Lankan due to a zero export tax regime.

Last year the exhibition had seen 8000 visitors, out of which 2000 were foreigners.