China’s aggregates industry has spent the last decade transitioning to a greener, more technologically minded approach to business. However, a myriad of factors have been reducing product demand in recent years. Aggregates Business spoke to Hu Youyi, a 15-year president now honorary president of China Aggregates Association, and his recent successor, newly appointed president of the 8th council of the China Aggregates Association, Libo Fang, CEO of SBM Group, one of China’s major crushing and screening plant manufacturers, to learn more about the changing make-up of the world’s biggest national aggregates market.
Quoting the latest data from the China Aggregates Industry Operation Report published by the China Aggregates Association (CAA), Hu Youyi notes that China’s aggregates production was 15.2 billion tonnes in 2024 and 7.3 billion tonnes in the first half of 2025. The numbers, explains Hu, represent year-on-year declines of 9.4% and 4%, respectively, reflecting a phase of cyclical adjustment in market demand.
“Current aggregate production has dropped by approximately 24% compared to five years ago, primarily due to reduced investment in property development and slower growth in infrastructure investment,” says Hu.
He adds: “The Chinese government has recently introduced policies to accelerate a new real estate development model. These measures include promoting the construction of safe, comfortable, green, and ‘intelligent quality housing’, advancing urban renewal initiatives, and facilitating the renovation of urban villages and dilapidated buildings. This policy package is helping stabilise the real estate market while creating new demand for aggregate products in China.
“Going forward, traditional aggregates demand will gradually decline, while new construction markets—driven by urban renewal projects, quality, affordable housing programs, and shantytown transformations—will generate increased demand.”
Asked about the biggest challenges facing Chinese aggregate producers and how the CAA is helping its members address them, Hu says: “While China’s push for high-quality development is accelerating investment in quality and affordable housing, urbanisation, urban renewal, and infrastructure like water conservancy and hydropower, it places higher demands on both the quality of aggregates and the service provided by producers. Consequently, energy-efficient aggregate equipment holds greater development potential.
“In this industry climate, the China Aggregates Association has proposed new concepts and development models aligned with national priorities for real estate and infrastructure. This aims to steer the industry towards green, low-carbon, and sustainable development.
“CAA is also actively conveying industry needs to relevant government departments to promote supportive policies, organising technology forums and international conferences to foster enterprise exchange, cooperation, and the sharing of best practices, and driving innovation in aggregates production and equipment manufacturing to enhance product quality and technical standards. The Association is also accelerating the formulation and revision of relevant standards in response to new demands and carrying out targeted personnel training. Finally, the CAA is conducting in-depth enterprise research and providing technical consulting services.”
Asked whether US President Donald Trump’s global trade tariffs have impacted the Chinese aggregate industry, Hu replies: “China’s aggregate imports and exports volume remains minimal. Consequently, recent U.S. tariff adjustments will have a minimal effect on Chinese aggregate products.
“However, exports of Chinese crushing and screening equipment to the US face a significant impact. These equipment exports have grown substantially in recent years, driven by their compelling value proposition and growing global appeal.
“However, this challenge presents opportunities: It will accelerate technological advancement and green transformation within China’s aggregates sector. Furthermore, it acts as a catalyst, pushing equipment manufacturers to refine their global footprint and enhance international operations.”
Commenting on notable trends in the Chinese aggregates industry, Libo Fang, who became CAA president in June 2025, says: “The trend toward large-scale crushing and screening equipment remains unchanged. However, as the market gradually sees fewer super large aggregate mines, production lines will shift from ultra-large-scale to medium-to-large-scale. Meanwhile, loading and transportation machinery will continue its trend toward larger sizes while also advancing further in customisation, electrification, and unmanned mine operations.
“While there has not been a significant increase in the deployment of tracked mobile crushers and screeners at aggregate production sites in China, mobility is the future trend.”
Asked what it means to become CAA president, Libo responds: “It is both an honour and a recognition of my fifteen years of work in this industry, but more importantly, a greater responsibility toward the future development of the sector.
“During this challenging [aggregates industry] transformation phase, we will leverage national and local industrial policies and advances in green and digital/intelligent technologies to drive sustained, high-quality industry growth.”
Libo says that, through his CAA leadership platform, SBM — a major global quarrying and mining equipment and turnkey solutions provider with self-operated quarries and clients across over 180 countries — will share its proven expertise in equipment, processing, quarry and mine management, and international operations. “This will foster greater supply-chain collaboration and global partnerships within the sector,” he stresses.
Focusing on the Chinese aggregates industry’s impressive sustainability journey over the past decade and how it plans to further advance in this key part of its work, Hu says: “In 2019, the Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Manufactured Aggregates Industry issued jointly by ten departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), explicitly called for coordinated efforts tailored to local conditions to foster an environment conducive to the industry’s healthy and sustainable development.
“Both China’s Aggregates Industry 13th Five-Year Plan and its 14th Five-Year Implementation Plan identified sustainable development as a key strategic task and objective.
“To advance sustainable development, CAA has undertaken extensive efforts. Rooted in the philosophy of maximising resource utilisation and ensuring mining benefits local communities, I proposed the ‘China Model’ for sustainable aggregates development, integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
“Following implementation by numerous Chinese enterprises, this model has achieved optimal resource utilisation, enhanced carbon sequestration, ecological benefits, and significant socioeconomic gains.”
Hu says that through the annual China International Aggregates Conference and the global expansion of Chinese aggregates and equipment manufacturers, the ‘China Model’ has garnered increasing international recognition and high acclaim.
He continues: “In recent years, China’s aggregates industry has made remarkable strides in sustainable development: aggregates production and equipment manufacturing have embraced green, intensive development; green mine construction is now a standard practice among enterprises; high-efficiency, low-consumption equipment and production technologies continue to emerge and are widely deployed; and many enterprises utilise renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.”
Hu also points out that China has developed globally competitive expertise in specific fields of solid construction waste recycling. He also notes that China is making significant strides in its research and application of solid construction waste recycling, with some practices approaching international advanced standards. Hu says dozens of Chinese enterprises hold National Green Mine certification, over ten are designated ‘National Green Factories’, and dozens more have earned industry Green Base and Green Factory honours.
The Chinese aggregates industry, notes Hu, has gone from being home to 60,000 quarrying enterprises in 2012 to the present 10,000 quarrying enterprises, plus 3,000 quarrying machinery manufacturers. The market has also restructured, with the decline of natural sand processing leading to over 90% of current industry output being crushed stone and manufactured sand.
Throughout this period of industrial and market consolidation, Hu says the Chinese aggregates industry has benefited from digitalisation and the increased automation of production. “Backed by high-level government focus and strong support, coupled with industry-wide collaboration, China’s aggregates sector has transformed over the past decade through rapid development. The industry has now firmly established itself on a path of sustainable, automated, and scaled operations.
“The widespread integration of automation and digital technologies in quarrying and processing has delivered substantial gains: significantly boosting production efficiency, enhancing product quality, and lowering costs. These technologies have also alleviated worker strain and improved working conditions. Most notably, intelligent monitoring systems are redefining traditional operations, transforming once resource-intensive sites into eco-friendly plants operating amid clear skies.”
Looking back on his time as CAA president, Hu is proud of his central role in the evolution of the Chinese aggregates industry. “The greatest breakthrough was shattering the ‘aggregate industry destiny mindset’. Historically labelled as ‘high-pollution, low-tech’, many firms once believed aggregate mining must remain primitive and crude. Yet over the past 15 years, CAA has spearheaded the sector’s transformation through policy advocacy, thought leadership, standardised practices, technological innovation, and self-regulation.
“Today’s industry operates with green, automated, and large-scale ecosystems. Leading enterprises now develop integrated eco-industrial parks spanning the entire value chain – from quarrying and aggregate processing to grinding stations, ready-mix concrete production, precast manufacturing, and ecological restoration. This marks China’s successful industry-wide modernisation.”
Part of Hu’s legacy as CAA president is playing a key role in the Association’s establishment and continued hosting of the China International Aggregates Conference, which alternates its hosting city. “From a modest few dozen attendees at the inaugural event to over a thousand participants at last year’s 9th conference, this remarkable growth reflects the concerted efforts of China’s aggregates industry. We deeply appreciate the global attention and support received from aggregates associations and related organisations worldwide, and we welcome participants from around the globe. The CAA remains committed to collaborating with all stakeholders to drive green, low-carbon, and sustainable development across the global aggregates sector.
“Aggregates production is inherently localised. Success requires development models tailored to each region’s specific resources and advantages. Should assistance be needed in this process, CAA is eager to share China’s industry experience and provide advisory support.”
How does Hu see the Chinese aggregates industry in a decade? “China’s aggregates industry will be fundamentally reshaped by policy drivers, technological innovation, and market forces, evolving towards markedly greener, smarter, and more consolidated operations. Green and low-carbon practices will define core competitiveness, while intelligent technologies revolutionise the industrial landscape. Accelerated consolidation will be driven by both policy guidance and market competition, and the recycling of construction and demolition waste, tailings, and other waste streams will emerge as a major growth engine.”
Original article link： https://www.aggbusiness.com/china-weaker-demand-amid-welcome-industry-evolution/
