Hosted by the China Aggregates Association, more than 1,400 people attended the high-profile event sponsored and co-organised by many leading companies in the China building materials and off-highway machinery sectors. They included Hebei Jiuzhou Mining Co., Ltd., Shanghai Sanme Mining Machinery Corp., Ltd, Jiangsu Shanbao Group Co., Ltd., Northern Heavy Industries Group Co.,Ltd., Shibang Industry & Technology Group Co., Ltd., Wuxue Minben Mineral Resources Development Co., Ltd., Shenyang Shunda Heavy Mining Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Henan Liming Heavy Industry Technology Co., Ltd., Nanchang Mineral Systems Co., Ltd., Comps compressor (shijiazhuang) Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Leimeng Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.
Hu Youyi, president of China Aggregates Association, delivered a keynote speech titled ‘Scientific Development and Innovative Development of the Aggregates Industry - Establish a Modern Aggregates Industry System’. The comprehensive address covered relevant state documents of the aggregates industry, future economic trend and aggregates industry development trend, market demand for aggregates, innovation in aggregates industry, the construction of a modern aggregates industry, the development model of the aggregates industry and the issues enterprises should pay attention to.
President Hu pointed out that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the state has promoted the construction of "two new and one heavy" (‘two new’ equating to new infrastructure and urbanisation construction, and ‘one heavy’ referring to major construction of transport and water conservancy projects). Hu noted that there is a huge demand of aggregates and relevant equipment, aggregates prices continue to rise, and the income of enterprises continues to grow rapidly. Hu said today is the best era for the development of the aggregates industry in China. The central state and local governments have issued many documents to promote the high-quality and healthy development of the aggregates industry. China's aggregates industry has entered what Hu described as the “golden era” which is full of opportunities and challenges. More and more players are rushing into the aggregates industry, and there are more and more new modern large-scale production bases, said Hu.
In his speech, Hu introduced the future economic and development trend of the aggregates industry. Several cases such as artificial intelligence, super high-speed rail, the largest sand dredger, the largest mining excavator, 3D printed buildings and bridges, aerial construction factories, demolition machines, green transportation and other subversive innovations were pointed out.
Hu also introduced many aspects of constructing a modern aggregates industrial system, including policies and regulations, regional planning and design, quarry planning and design, scientific research, technology development, standards and specifications, quality inspection and monitoring, enterprise inspection rooms, certification and accreditation system, corporate credit rating evaluation, aggregates industry science and technology awards, appraisal of scientific and technological achievements, education and training, statistical analysis of industry data, information research, industry development trend research, and the construction of a big data platform in the sand and gravel industry, intelligent manufacturing, and smart mines.
Li Huajian, postgraduate tutor and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Railway Sciences, presented a report called ‘Considerations on the Status Quo of High-Quality Manufactured Aggregates Production and Application Technology’. Professor Song Shaomin of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture gave a report titled ‘Research and Thinking on Modern Concrete Aggregate Standards’. ‘New Era, New Ecology, New Business Opportunities’ is a report showcased at the conference by Sun Kai, general manager of Hebei Jiuzhou Mining Co., Ltd. The report pointed out that the sand and gravel industry has been raised to an unprecedented historical height and ushered in unprecedented development opportunities.
Other conference highlights included a report by Professor Liang Wenquan of Wuhan University titled ‘The Relationship between Aggregate Quality and Modern Concrete Performance’. Zhou Yongxiang, director of the High-Performance Concrete Technology Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Building Research, presented a report named ‘Application and Technology of Marine Aggregates in Concrete’. Meanwhile, Ma Yongsheng, chief engineer of Beijing Concrete Sharing Future Engineering Technology Research Institute, shared a report called ‘How Aggregate Quality Helps Improve the Performance of Ready-Mixed Concrete under the New Normal State’.
Zhang Quan, chairman of the Public Railway Green Chain New Energy Transportation Company, gave a report titled ‘Opportunities and Challenges under the Upgrade of Construction Aggregates Industry’. Finally, Zhang Jia, the sales director of Shanghai Sanme Mining Machinery Corp., shared a report headed ‘Technical Development of Production Technology and Equipment for High-quality Manufactured Aggregates and Recycled Aggregates’.
