China consumed more cement in just 2 years than the United States used during the entire 20th century.
Between 2011 and 2013, China poured approximately 6.6 billion tonnes of cement—surpassing the 4.4 billion tonnes the United States used over the full 100 years of the 20th century.
In roughly 1,000 days, China achieved a scale of concrete construction that the U.S. took an entire century to reach.
While America built its legendary interstate highways, towering skyscrapers, and sprawling suburbs across generations, China replicated—and exceeded—that monumental physical legacy in under three years.
This breathtaking acceleration reflects an unprecedented transformation in global development, driven by the world’s most rapid urbanization in history.
Key factors included the construction of vast megaprojects (such as the Three Gorges Dam) and the explosive rise of high-density cities.
Unlike the U.S., where residential building long favored lighter, wood-framed single-family homes, China’s modernization prioritized concrete-heavy high-rise apartment towers, extensive metro systems, bridges, airports, and industrial infrastructure to house and connect hundreds of millions moving from rural to urban areas.
Yet this architectural triumph carries a heavy price. Cement production is one of the largest single sources of human-generated CO₂ emissions—accounting for roughly 8% of the global total. The sheer volume China produced during this period alone generated an enormous carbon footprint, highlighting the stark tension between breakneck economic and infrastructural growth and the urgent demands of climate change mitigation.
[China National Bureau of Statistics / World Cement Association reports]
About michelleclarke2015
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
canisgallicus 