China Cement Association had drafted a plan to promote mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and step up the elimination of obsolete capacity to increase concentration of the domestic production base.

According to the strategy entitled ‘Implementation Plan for Accelerating M&A in Cement Industry’, the number of cement enterprises in the country will witness a significant drop during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15) from the 2010 level, with no more than 1000 cement clinker units and no more than 2000 large-scale cement grinding stations each with annual output of more than 600,000t remaining by the end of 2015.

The plan also aims to develop five major groups, each with an output of more than 100Mta, to encompass the complete industry chain and enhance core competencies.