An incredible statistic from Bill Gates' blog shows that between 2011 and 2013, China consumed more concrete than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century. The Three Gorges Dam alone required 16 million tons of cement. The country's insatiable thirst for the stuff hasn't been quenched and it comfortably remains the world's king of concrete. In 2017, China produced more cement than the rest of the world combined, according to the U.S. Geological Survey In total, Chinese cement factories produced 2.4 billion metric tons and the rest of the world churned out 1.7 billion metric tons. India was "the best of the rest" with 270 million metric tons, far ahead of the U.S. where production amounted to 86.3 million. China blitzes that every single month. Take July 2017 as an example: that month, China produced 221 million metric tons, over twice U.S. annual output.