According to the data provided by Cemented Carbide Branch of China Tungsten Industry Association, in 2011, there were more than 300 cemented carbide production enterprises in China, with more than 30 professional research institutes and more than 25,000 employees in the whole industry. As of 2011, there are 100,000t/a tungsten concentrate production capacity, 180,000t/a tungsten acid and tungsten salt production capacity, 62,000t/a tungsten carbide production capacity, 38,000t/a cemented carbide production capacity, as well as the supporting supply capacity of Co, Ni, Ta, Nb and Ti.

In 2011, China’s cemented carbide output was 23,500 tonnes, and the sales income of cemented carbide industry was 20.9 billion yuan, and the export of cemented carbide was nearly 5,000 tonnes, and the foreign exchange earned by exporting was more than 360 million U.S. dollars, and the output of deep-processing products of cemented carbide reached 6,600 tonnes, which accounted for one-third of the total output of alloy. The varieties of cemented carbide products produced were basically complete, with specifications and models exceeding 40,000, and the output and varieties basically met the needs of various economic fields in China. The output and varieties can basically meet the needs of various economic fields in China.　

The main problems in China’s cemented carbide industry:

Firstly, the scale of enterprises is small and the industrial concentration is not high. According to incomplete statistics, 199 cemented carbide enterprises have an average annual production capacity of 176 tonnes, an average annual output of only 86 tonnes, and there are only 4 enterprises with an annual output of more than 1,000 tonnes.

Secondly, there is less investment in science and technology, lack of high-end technical talents, and weak technical research and development ability. China’s cemented carbide industry invests less than 3% of its sales revenue in science and technology, and the level of science and technology research and development is not high, and there are fewer original core technology achievements.

Thirdly, the product quality level is low and the product structure needs to be adjusted. China’s cemented carbide production accounts for more than 40% of the world’s total output, but the sales revenue of cemented carbide is less than 20% of the world’s total, mainly due to the high value-added products such as high-performance ultra-fine alloy, high-precision and high-performance grinding and coating inserts, super-hard tooling materials, complex and large foreign products, precision cemented carbide numerical control cutting tools and other high value-added products with less output, insufficient deep processing support and incomplete varieties. 　　

With the rapid expansion of China’s automobile industry, the demand for cutting tools for automobile parts processing is increasing, and the demand for cemented carbide in China's iron and steel, transport, construction and other fields is also becoming more and more prosperous. In the strategic picture of foreign cemented carbide multinational companies, the Chinese market has quietly changed from a supporting role to a protagonist.

The analysis pointed out that by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, China’s cemented carbide production reached 30,000 tonnes; sales revenue reached 30 billion yuan; deep processing products accounted for more than 40% of the total output of cemented carbide. Exports will double compared to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, striving for more than 1 billion U.S. dollars. Cemented carbide will develop in the direction of deep processing and tool matching; in the direction of ultra-fine, ultra-coarse and coated composite structure; in the direction of circular economy, energy saving and environmental protection; and in the direction of precision and miniaturization.