The steel industry has achieved groundbreaking progress and remarkable accomplishments in its high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the steel industry has remained steadfastly guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, focusing on high-quality development. Seizing rare opportunities while rising to meet diverse challenges, the industry has resolutely embraced the development philosophy of 'innovation, coordination, green growth, openness, and shared benefits,' achieving groundbreaking progress and remarkable breakthroughs in high-end, intelligent, and eco-friendly advancements." On October 31, Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General, as well as Spokesperson of the China Iron and Steel Association, highlighted the sector's accomplishments during the 14th Five-Year Plan at the association's Q3 Information Conference for 2025.
Industrial foundational capabilities further enhanced
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the steel industry has prioritized energy conservation and carbon reduction, adhering to market-oriented and rule-of-law principles in managing crude steel production. Actively exploring and promoting the establishment of new mechanisms for capacity governance, the industry has successfully transitioned from "capacity reduction" to a dual-control approach targeting both capacity and output. This shift has effectively facilitated structural optimization and upgrades, while enhancing the overall quality of industry development amid ongoing adjustments aimed at reducing output.
Steel enterprises, guided by the goal of strengthening industrial synergy, have been deeply engaging in joint restructuring initiatives—for instance, China Baowu’s merger and reorganization of Xinsteel, its strategic investment in Shandong Iron and Steel Group, Ansteel’s restructuring of Bensteel and Lingsteel, and CITIC’s… Special Steel Partnering with Nansteel, Jianlong Group has restructured Xining Special Steel, while Jingye Group has successively acquired Lianyungang Xingxin Iron & Steel and Yingkou Medium Plate. These strategic moves have further optimized the company's industrial layout and significantly boosted industry concentration. In 2024, the steel industry's CR4 (concentration ratio of the top four players) stood at 26.9%, an increase of 4.6 percentage points compared to 2020, while the CR10 reached 43.0%, up 4.4 percentage points.
The capacity to ensure mineral resources continues to improve, and key projects under the "Iron Resource Development Plan" are being steadily advanced. In 2024, domestically Iron concentrate Production reached 300 million tons, an increase of 11.0% compared to 2020; overseas equity mining projects are accelerating development and construction, and progress has been made in establishing a new model for ensuring iron resource security.
Additionally, we are vigorously expanding new consumption scenarios for steel materials, driving the implementation of the "Steel Material Application Expansion Plan" with a focus on "material upgrading and material substitution," while simultaneously promoting the wider use of steel structures. Since 2022, the volume of steel structure processing has remained above 100 million tons for three consecutive years, steadily increasing its share of crude steel production. Meanwhile, collaboration between the steel and construction industries continues to deepen.
The structure of steel product varieties has been further optimized and upgraded.
Under the guidance of building a manufacturing powerhouse, the steel industry is committed to meeting the nation's growing demand for higher-quality and more diverse steel products. Keeping pace with the country’s ongoing industrial restructuring, the sector has swiftly adjusted its product mix to drive the high-end transformation of steel usage in key areas such as automotive, home appliances, infrastructure, and construction. As a result, steel performance—such as high strength, weather resistance, lightweight design, and excellent weldability—continuously improves.
Looking at broader trends, the share of steel used in manufacturing has risen from 42% in 2020 to 50% in 2024, with expectations that it will surpass 50% by 2025. Meanwhile, the proportion of steel allocated to the construction industry has declined from 58% in 2020 to 50% in 2024—and is projected to continue falling in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the development and manufacturing of new products, especially high-end ones, continue to accelerate. A representative example of these high-end products is— Silicon Steel In 2024, production reached approximately 18 million tons, representing a 48% increase compared to 2020. Among these, the share of grain-oriented silicon steel rose from 14% to 18%, while high-magnetic-flux grain-oriented silicon steel accounted for 68% of total grain-oriented silicon steel output, up from 59%. Meanwhile, the proportion of high-grade non-grain-oriented silicon steel in non-grain-oriented steel production increased from 21% to 31%.
Additionally, steel products such as 2200 MPa-class ultra-high-strength bridge cables, "hand-torn steel," and "cicada-wing steel" have reached internationally leading levels. Meanwhile, F-grade thick marine engineering steel, high-strength wear-resistant steel, and high-strength steel for pressure vessel shells—among others—have successfully replaced imported materials. Furthermore, the fourth-generation nuclear power plant-grade 316H steel has been developed. Stainless steel 3.5Ni ultra-low-temperature steel, high-speed railway corrosion-resistant rails, high-grade magnetic yoke steel, X80-grade low-temperature pipeline steel, third-generation ultra-high-capacity pipeline steel, high-temperature alloy turbine disks, and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors Nickel A series of products, including base alloy welding materials, steel for high-speed train wheels and axles, and steel for bogies, have made their global debut, supporting the steel demands of the nation's major engineering projects and critical equipment.
The role of science and technology innovation in providing support and leading development has further strengthened.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the steel industry has earnestly implemented the nation’s innovation-driven development strategy, continuously strengthening collaborative innovation capabilities across the industrial chain and steadily enhancing its ability to achieve self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology. From 2020 to 2024, R&D expenditures of key statistical enterprises under the China Iron and Steel Association increased from 111.8 billion yuan to 156.5 billion yuan, representing a remarkable 40% rise. Meanwhile, R&D spending as a percentage of operating revenue climbed from 2.17% to 2.72%. Driven by technological innovation, key statistical enterprises have seen continuous improvements in steel-related technical and economic indicators: coke ratio decreased by 4.9%, fuel ratio dropped by 1%, blast furnace labor productivity surged by 15.7%, and converter labor productivity improved by 13.2%.
China's low-carbon metallurgy innovation and its applications have entered the world's leading ranks. Key projects include China Baowu's HyCROF (Hydrogen-Carbon Recirculation Oxygen Blast Furnace) commercial demonstration project, Hebei Iron and Steel Group's groundbreaking global "hydrogen-based shaft furnace—near-zero carbon emission electric arc furnace" short-process project, the world's first green hydrogen-metallurgy-based continuous casting production line for automotive steel sheets, and China Iron & Steel Research Institute's globally first pure-hydrogen shaft furnace demonstration line. Additionally, a series of cutting-edge low-carbon metallurgy initiatives—such as thin-strip casting and rolling, and dry granulation of blast-furnace slag—have been successfully implemented, offering the "China Solution" to accelerate the global steel industry's transition toward greener, lower-carbon practices.
Meanwhile, intelligent manufacturing in the steel industry is shifting from "isolated explorations" to "systematic advancement," and from "project-based demonstrations" to "widespread adoption." Digital transformation has already become an industry-wide consensus. Among key statistical enterprises under the China Iron and Steel Association, 95% have integrated digital transformation strategies into their overall corporate development plans. Robot application density has reached 65 units (sets) per 10,000 employees, and 95% of these companies are now leveraging industrial internet platforms, further solidifying the "digital and intelligent foundation" at production sites. As of now, the steel industry has seen the emergence of 76 outstanding smart manufacturing scenarios, along with 49 national-level demonstration factories and 19 world-class intelligent plants—examples include Baosteel Shares' Baoshan Base, CITIC Pacific Xingcheng Special Steel, and Shougang Shares. Cold Rolling The company has become a "Global Lighthouse Factory."
Green and low-carbon development capabilities and levels have been further enhanced.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the steel industry invested over 310 billion yuan in an unprecedented ultra-low emission transformation project. As of October 16, 2025, a total of 215 steel enterprises have either completed or partially completed their transformation and assessment monitoring. Among them, 163 enterprises—representing approximately 653 million tons of crude steel production capacity—have fully achieved ultra-low emission standards across their entire production processes. Meanwhile, 52 steel enterprises, accounting for about 180 million tons of crude steel capacity, have partially finished their upgrades. Currently, 76 more enterprises, with roughly 98 million tons of capacity, are still undergoing evaluation.
By implementing these ultra-low emission upgrades, China has established the world’s largest-scale clean steel production system, significantly reducing pollutant emissions. Specifically, concentrations of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides have dropped by more than 50% on average compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. This achievement not only plays a crucial role in winning the "Blue Sky Defense Battle" but also drives technological innovation and management reform, bringing the vision of "green steel" from theory into practical reality.
To accelerate efforts in pollution reduction and carbon emission cuts, the China Iron and Steel Association has taken the lead in promoting the "Ultimate Energy Efficiency Project." Since its launch in December 2022, the initiative has already attracted a total of 143 enterprises, encompassing 750 million tons of steel production capacity, to participate in benchmarking and capability-building activities. The association has also released the T50 and T80 technology and capability lists, driving an iterative upgrade of its standards and energy efficiency data management system—making it a key driver for cost reduction and carbon mitigation in the steel industry. Compared to 2022, from 2023 through the first half of 2025, participating enterprises have collectively achieved energy savings equivalent to 15.74 million tons of standard coal and reduced carbon emissions by 40.92 million tons. Notably, in the first half of 2025, the energy consumption intensity of blast furnace and converter processes among these enterprises declined by approximately 3.32% and 13.64%, respectively.
Focusing on the goal of low-carbon transformation, the steel industry is continuously improving its governance system, innovation framework, and indicator system. It has formulated and released the "Vision for Carbon Neutrality in the Steel Industry and Low-Carbon Technology Roadmap," while also advancing the "World-Leading Initiative to Support the Development of Cutting-Edge, Common-Low-Carbon Technologies." This initiative outlines eight key areas of pioneering low-carbon, cross-sectoral technologies. Currently, more than 50 cutting-edge low-carbon technology R&D projects—led by at least 22 companies and research institutions nationwide—are underway simultaneously, poised to provide a robust technological foundation for driving the steel industry's transition toward a low-carbon future.
China's first EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) platform in the industrial sector—the Steel Industry Full-Chain EPD Platform—was launched in May 2022. To date, it has cumulatively published 278 EPD reports and 16 PCR documents (Product Category Rules), making it one of the most timely and comprehensive platforms globally in terms of both coverage and sample size. Leveraging this full-chain EPD platform, the steel industry continues to drive the establishment and refinement of an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) database, methodologies, standard systems, and practical applications across the industry chain. Meanwhile, based on nearly 330 million tons of domestic crude steel carbon emission data from China, the platform has also developed and released the "Low-Carbon Emission Steel Standard," along with 23 certified low-carbon emission steel products.
Additionally, we have collaborated with downstream industries to develop carbon-emission platforms and promote mutual recognition efforts. Carbon-emission data has already been adopted by the home appliance industry’s carbon-footprint accounting standards, enabling data interoperability with China’s Industrial Carbon Emission Information Management System. Furthermore, we’ve reached an agreement with the China Automotive Center to mutually recognize carbon-emission calculation methods for steel used in automotive applications, fostering collaborative creation and shared benefits as the industry jointly advances toward a green, low-carbon transformation.
