These have been obsolete in most of the rest of the world for over a century, and accounted for less than 3% of production even in 1957, when most of China’s cement plants were imports from Eastern Europe. Nowadays, however, shaft kilns are a favorite of local governments because they can be built cheaply and quickly and generate growth and employment.
以水泥生产为例，根据中国水泥行业协会的数据， 38% 的水泥产量都是来自于立窑，而这种技术在世界各地都已经淘汰将近一个世纪了，甚至在 1957 年的中国也只有 3% 的水泥产量来自立窑，因为当时国内的水泥生产设备都是从东欧进口的。然而时至今日，立窑技术却得到了地方政府的青睐，因为他们可以花很少的成本尽快上马项目来创造经济增长和就业。至于有没有规模经济效益，能不能减少对环境的影响这些问题，根本就不在优先考虑之列。