China: tile production declines domestically but grows abroad

A sharp downturn hit Chinese tile production in 2025, which fell below 5 billion sqm. Exports also slowed, while the internationalisation of the Chinese ceramic industry continues at a rapid pace, with production plants established in 27 countries across three continents.

In 2025, the Chinese ceramic tile industry recorded a further steep decline as the downturn triggered by the 2021 real estate crisis continued for a fifth consecutive year. According to the annual report published by the China Building Ceramics and Sanitary Ware Association, output from the country’s 938 tile manufacturers plummeted to 4.86 billion sqm last year, almost one billion square metres lower than in 2024 (-17.8%).

As a result, national tile production has more than halved over the past decade (it was 10.2 billion sqm in 2016) and contracted by 43% in just five years (it was 8.57 billion sqm in 2020).

Massive production overcapacity remains a critical issue, particularly since the prevailing opinion among Chinese analysts is that the sector has not yet reached the bottom of its cycle and that the rationalisation process will continue, leading to the emergence of increasingly large, efficient and well-structured industrial groups. With the era of mass production and pure price-based competition now effectively over, the Chinese ceramic industry is being forced to shift towards value-driven business models. Its new priorities are quality and innovation, operational and managerial efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness, reliability, customisation and service. The key drivers shaping the sector’s future development will therefore be digitalisation, smart manufacturing, sustainability and energy efficiency.

China’s leading manufacturers have already embarked on this transformation in recent years. A prime example is Newpearl Group’s $55 million investment in its Digital Green Factory in Foshan, which involved replacing machinery that had been in operation for 20 years. On 28 March 2026, the company inaugurated two new high-performance lines capable of reducing gas consumption by 15%, lowering emissions, managing rapid production changeovers and small batches and allowing for more flexible order scheduling. Further projects are due for completion in the second half of the year, including the installation of the company’s first electric roller kiln.

Tile exports fall to 567 million sqm

Chinese ceramic tile exports also continued their downward trajectory in 2025, extending a decline that has now lasted for more than a decade (CAGR 2025-2016: -6.4%). According to data compiled and processed by the MECS Research Centre, export volumes fell by a further 5.5% compared to 2024, dropping from 600 million to 567 million sqm. Export revenues declined by 4.7% to €2.83 billion, while the average selling price remained stable at €5/sqm.

Although China remained the world’s largest tile exporter by volume in 2025, it is now virtually level with India, whose exports grew by 7.6% last year to reach 565 million sqm.

Porcelain tiles accounted for 52.7% of total Chinese exports, while export sales remained heavily concentrated in a limited number of destination markets. Of the 206 countries to which China exported tiles in 2025, the top 15 accounted for 73% of total export volumes (71% excluding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), equivalent to 415 million sqm. A further 41 countries imported volumes of between 1 and 9 million sqm from China, while all remaining destinations remained below the 1 million square metre mark.

70% of exports shipped to Asian markets

Asia and the Middle East remained the leading destinations for Chinese ceramic tiles, accounting for 70% of total exports (396 million sqm, down 10% on 2024). Eleven of China’s top 15 export markets are located in this region, including the top four destinations: the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. Exports to Israel saw a particularly sharp increase, more than doubling to 23 million sqm (+108%).

Exports to Latin America – the second largest destination region for Chinese tiles – recovered in 2025 to 73.5 million sqm (+11.6%), driven above all by growth in Colombia (+35.6%), which alongside Peru and Chile remains one of China’s leading markets in the region.

Sales in Oceania remained stable at 37.8 million sqm, almost entirely destined for Australia – China’s fifth-largest foreign market, where it holds a market share of around 75%.

Similar volumes (37.4 million sqm, up 10% on 2024) were exported to Africa, although exports to the continent – which exceeded 200 million sqm annually prior to 2016 – have now been progressively replaced by Chinese-owned manufacturing facilities established locally.

Following the introduction of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties in the United States in 2020, China’s presence in North America is now almost entirely limited to exports to Canada (8.6 million sqm, down 2.8% on 2024), while a further 2.6 million sqm were exported to Mexico and the US.

Europe has also become a marginal market for Chinese ceramic tiles, despite a modest increase in exports from 8 million to 10 million sqm in 2025, of which 2.6 million sqm was sold in the European Union (where antidumping duties were introduced in 2011) and 7.4 million sqm in non-EU European countries.

Chinese production abroad already exceeds one billion square metres

Alongside the rationalisation and technological upgrading of domestic production and the decline in exports, the Chinese ceramic industry is rapidly expanding its international manufacturing footprint.

It is already estimated that 136 lines are operating abroad, with a total annual production capacity of 1.6 billion sqm and an actual output of around 1.2 billion sqm.

As mentioned, Africa has attracted the largest share of Chinese investment, with over 30 factories currently operating across 17 countries, and an annual capacity of over 900 million sqm.

Twyford (Keda Industrial Group) operates in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia with a total of 21 production lines and an annual output of 200 million sqm, a figure set to grow with the planned opening of a facility in Guinea and the expansion of several existing plants.

In addition to Twyford, other Chinese firms (including Wang Kang Goodwill Group) operate in Nigeria (where around ten factories are currently active), as well as in Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Libya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Egypt, South Africa, Angola and Congo.

Chinese presence is also significant in the Middle East, where—between Saudi Arabia and Jordan—annual production capacity is estimated at around 234 million sqm, mainly installed in Saudi Arabia.

Chinese-owned ceramic tile plants are also active in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (with a combined annual capacity of around 180 million sqm), in Pakistan (~119 million sqm) and in the Philippines (~43 million sqm).

In Central and South America, Chinese investments are located in Peru and Mexico, with a combined production capacity of around 46 million sqm. Another notable investment is Marco Polo Group’s venture in Tennessee (USA), where its Wonder Porcelain facility has been operating since 2017.