This study estimates the effect of using carbon pricing to promote the diffusion of low carbon technologies based on data collected from 78 cement companies in China. The analysis confirms that they are familiar with major energy saving and low carbon technologies in the sector and have made efforts in energy saving, but are lagging in terms of carbon management. An average payback time of 3.3 years is confirmed as the threshold for cement companies to determine technology investment. The adoptions of target technologies in this survey are at different stages; WHR (waste heat recovery power generation) systems have been largely diffused and the effect of carbon pricing is highly marginal for further adoption. On the other hand, levying a moderate carbon price, i.e., 60 Yuan/t-CO2, may accelerate the diffusion of EMOS (energy management and optimisation systems), recently introduced in China's cement industry. This research goes some way to clarifying the diffusion of low carbon technologies and provides implications for climate countermeasures for the target sector in China. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.