Faced with downward pressure in traditional sectors, the industry has proactively accelerated structural adjustment and improved capacity utilization rates. The advanced new materials sector has gained strong momentum, emerging as a new growth highlight. Guided by coordinated policies from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and other authorities, the market scale of green construction materials maintained rapid growth in the first quarter, laying a solid foundation for the industry’s full-year development.
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In Q1 this year, China’s traditional construction materials sector continued to face headwinds while structural optimization picked up speed, with green development serving as the core growth engine for industrial transformation.
Statistics show that the construction materials industry has expedited its green transition, phasing out 29.8 million tons of inefficient production capacity in total and reversing the decline in capacity utilization rates. Advanced inorganic non-metallic materials represented by photovoltaic glass and glass fiber products have thrived, with photovoltaic glass demand accounting for nearly 50% of total flat glass demand. The total profit of the glass fiber and products sector surged by 130% year-on-year.
Both output and profits of green construction materials rose steadily. By the end of the first quarter, the number of nationally certified green construction material products increased by 5% compared with late 2025, and the total profit of the construction materials industry grew by 16.2% year-on-year.
Yan Xiaofeng, President of China Construction Materials Federation, stated that ten government departments including the MIIT have jointly issued the Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Green Construction Materials Industry to guide the green transformation of the construction materials sector. Revenue of green construction materials exceeded 61 billion yuan in Q1 this year, maintaining a robust growth rate of 12%, which has laid a solid groundwork for hitting the full-year revenue target of 300 billion yuan.
At present, industrial upgrading and technological innovation are advancing rapidly in China’s construction materials industry. AI-powered large models tailored for construction materials have been applied in cement and other sub-sectors, with digital and intelligent technologies fueling high-quality development. The industry has achieved remarkable green progress, consuming over 1.8 billion tons of solid waste annually and registering a solid waste substitution rate of nearly 28% in cement production. Driven by new energy and rail transit industries, demand for new-type construction materials remains strong, with output of photovoltaic glass and glass fiber yarn rising notably. Construction materials exports rose by 13.5% year-on-year, while exports of high-end products such as ultra-thin glass and semiconductor quartz crucibles increased by more than 30%, reflecting continuously enhanced international competitiveness.