At the 2013–2014 Annual Meeting and Academic Exchange Conference of the CCPA Precast Concrete Pile Branch, Xu Yongmo, President of the China Concrete and Cement Products Association, proposed the entirely new concept of developing "second-generation" precast concrete pile technology.

President Xu pointed out that the precast concrete pile industry is the largest sector of the cement products industry. With an output of 280 million meters in 2013 and 160 million meters in the first half of this year, the scale is enormous. The industry is closely tied to China's economic development, especially real estate, and changes in the real estate market have a major impact on the industry. China's economic development is currently in a stage of slow, steady downturn, and enterprises clearly feel the difficulties of development. Although purchase restrictions in the real estate market have been somewhat relaxed, credit has not kept pace.

President Xu Yongmo suggested that the industry should rely on leading enterprises to drive technological innovation and present a new concept to society and the government: developing "second-generation" precast pile technology to form a precast concrete pile industry with Chinese characteristics. "Second-generation" precast pile technology may include: autoclave-free high-performance precast pile material technology; corrosion-resistant pile foundation materials and engineering technology; seismic design technology for pipe pile foundations; special-shaped pile technology and applications; driven-free pile installation technology and equipment; production automation and intelligent technology; solar energy curing technology; and other aspects.

Facing difficulties, enterprises should emancipate their minds, change their thinking, and pursue both mergers and acquisitions and technological innovation. They should abandon zero-sum thinking and the "chicken-head" mentality of always being the leader, and instead pursue joint restructuring and win-win cooperation. Opportunities belong to those who are prepared; enterprises must seize opportunities and prepare well. In terms of the time window, China's economic development is at a trough; in terms of market opportunities, the industry suffers from severe overcapacity; in terms of the policy environment, national policy supports and encourages mergers and acquisitions. Enterprises should identify good target companies and carry out regional corporate restructuring. There are various innovative approaches to mergers and acquisitions: retreating when the current is strong and taking profits when available; mutual shareholding to turn enemies into friends; joining and rebranding to rely on a strong backer; and strategic alliances to face the outside world together. Enterprises should apply these flexibly according to their own circumstances.