On January 4, 2026, as the new year began, international exchange in the concrete and cement-based products industry ushered in a fresh new start. Zhang Yan, President of the China Concrete and Cement-based Products Association (CCPA), met in Beijing with Bae Cho-woong, a member of the Korean business delegation accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on his visit to China. The two sides held in-depth discussions on industry development in their respective countries, breakthroughs in technological innovation, and future cooperation, setting the tone for deeper exchange and collaboration between the China–Korea concrete and cement-based products industries in the new year.

President Zhang extended a warm welcome to President Bae and briefly introduced the development history and core functions of CCPA. He highlighted the 2025 economic performance of China’s concrete and cement-based products industry and its major subsectors, covering key areas such as industrial structure optimization, the green and low-carbon transition, and advances in digitalization and intelligent development. He also noted Chinese enterprises’ exports of relevant products and equipment to Korea, emphasizing the strong complementarity between the two industries and the broad potential for cooperation.

As 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of CCPA, President Zhang invited the Korea Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation and its member companies to visit China in September for an inspection tour and to attend the China International Concrete Expo to be held in Guangzhou on September 18–20. He encouraged the Korean side to leverage the expo platform for face-to-face business matchmaking and technical exchange with Chinese companies to explore new cooperation opportunities.

President Bae expressed sincere appreciation for Mr. Zhang’s warm reception and detailed presentation, and introduced the structure of Korea’s concrete and cement-based industry, technology trends, and market demand characteristics. According to the information shared, the Korea Remicon Industry Cooperative Federation was established in 1994 and consists of 21 regional cooperative member organizations, overseeing approximately 910 ready-mixed concrete plants. The data show that the number of concrete batching plants in Korea peaked at 1,089 in 2020, and Korea’s ready-mixed concrete output in 2025 stood at more than 90 million cubic meters.

President Bae spoke highly of the achievements of China’s concrete and cement-based products industry in technological innovation, industrial scale, and the green and low-carbon transition. He expressed hope that this meeting would serve as an opportunity to further deepen industry-to-industry exchange between China and Korea and promote more substantive, pragmatic cooperation in technology, markets, and other areas.

The meeting was also attended by Li Zhiling, Deputy Secretary-General of CCPA and Director-General of the International Cooperation Center, and Shi Haixia, Deputy Secretary-General of CCPA and Secretary-General of the Ready-Mixed Concrete Branch.