The development of refractories industry in China in the past 62 years is reviewed and further development in the next 30 years is discussed. In 1949-1979,China' s refractories industry gradually developed from originally backward status to be a comprehensive industrial sector with sizable production capacity and elevated technical level. In 1979-2010,refractories production increased at fast tempo,reaching 25.4 million tons in 2010 and ranking top in the world. Important progress was made in innovative research and development on high quality synthetic refractory raw materials based on bauxite and magnesite and high performance new products with Chinese characteristics such as oxide-nonoxide composites. The next 30 years (2011-2040) should be a period of steady development. More efforts should be given to efficient utilization of natural resources,product quality,environmental protection and energy conservation and development in science and technology. Future work should be focused on the following three strategic tasks: (1) reorganization and reconstruction of refractories mining enterprises;(2)structural adjustment and optimization of refractories manufacturing companies;(3)innovative achievements in refractories science and technology.