Created on 2025.12.17
Chinese Slate: is good quality?
Chinese Slate: is good quality?
Chinese slate has established itself as a significant roofing material within the European market, valued for its competitive pricing and consistent supply. Available in Euro market for over two decades, it has evolved through varying phases of market perception, now increasingly recognized for improved quality control and standardization.
What is Chinese Slate made from?
Northern China (Hebei & Beijing)Yixian County (often called the "home of slate") one of the center of Chinese slate industry, offering a wide variety including rust-toned slate, yellow wood-grain, and newly explored quartz-based products.
Eastern China (Jiangxi)Xingzi County in Jiangxi is renowned for its high-quality black and green slate, though it is positioned at a premium price point. Due to environmental protection policies, most quarry have stopped mining.
Central China (Hubei & Surroundings)Areas along the Hubei-Jiangxi border also produce both black and green slate. Furthermore, the Zhuxi region in Hubei supplies black, grey, and green varieties.
Western China (Shaanxi)Shaanxi produces black slate in relatively low volumes in the past, with logistics costs affecting its competitiveness. Since 2020, improvements in public and transport infrastructure have largely resolved prior logistical constraints. Concurrently, several quarries in the Shaanxi region have transitioned to environmentally optimized open-pit extraction, securing a reliable supply chain while markedly minimizing ecological impact.
Why does Chinese slate have a bad reputation?
When Chinese slate first entered the UK market, a small number of quarries sold what is known as “fading slate.” Similar to some lower-quality Spanish slate, this material typically shows a light grey colour with brownish patches, resembling rust stains. Because these quarries sold this inferior product at standard market prices, it became difficult for buyers and contractors to distinguish between high- and low-quality slate. The poor performance understandably led to frustration, and eventually, the responsible quarries were shut down.
Today, the industry is far more regulated. Every batch of Chinese slate exported must meet stringent British Slate standards. What you might still see installed as “fading slate” in the UK largely dates from the period before these strict controls were implemented. Current Chinese slate supplied to the market is reliable and consistently performs to specification.
Who we are? What we do?
As a Chinese slate quarry with two generations of expertise, we enforce a rigorous traceability system for quality control. It begins at extraction: each slate block is tagged with its precise quarry location and the date it was cut. Throughout the manufacturing process into roofing tiles, we maintain strict batch integrity based on this origin data. The final step takes place at our dedicated packing and fumigation centre located at the foot of the mountain. This disciplined location-and-date management guarantees unmatched consistency in both the visual appearance and material quality of our slate tiles.