At the just-concluded annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Hu Wangming, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited (China Baowu), said China’s steel industry is entering a new phase of development.
Addressing key challenges in the steel sector’s reform and future development, Hu emphasized the need to enhance capacity governance policies to drive the integration of digital and real economies, foster collaborative innovation, and promote high-quality development in traditional manufacturing.
According to the World Steel Association, global steel demand is expected to continue growing over the next 20 years, but market distribution and product structure will undergo significant changes. Considering urbanization rates and industrialization progress, China’s steel production and consumption have essentially peaked and entered a long-term phase of structural adjustment and volume reduction.
He noted that developed regions such as Europe, Japan and the US also experienced prolonged periods of restructuring after their steel industries peaked in the 1970s. These regions adopted various capacity governance policies tailored to different development stages, establishing comprehensive policy frameworks while emphasizing international cooperation and global resource allocation, Hu said.
To facilitate industrial transformation and upgrading, Hu called for the acceleration of China’s capacity governance policy reforms.
He also advocated for increased policy support to help traditional industries adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, encouraging leading enterprises to pioneer smart application scenarios and set benchmarks for intelligent upgrading. He called for the creation of industrial integration and innovation platforms to drive breakthroughs in core technologies.
To further advance the industry’s digital transformation, Hu urged leading manufacturing enterprises to take an active role in defining sector challenges, promoting open innovation, and strengthening industrial collaboration to accelerate the growth of emerging digital industries.
Green and low-carbon development is fundamental to the steel industry and an essential aspect of high-quality growth, Hu said, adding that China Baowu is comprehensively advancing the green and low-carbon transformation of steel production.
“Enterprises should cooperate to research integrated solutions for achieving carbon neutrality in the steel industry and establishing a national-level innovation platform for green and low-carbon steel production,” Hu concluded.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
