Heavy! The backbone of steel and a hundred years of leadership - the research results of the "China Iron and Steel" brand were released

China Development Network News Brand is a comprehensive embodiment of the competitiveness of enterprises, industries and even countries, and global market competition has been concentrated in brand competition. As a basic and pillar industry of the national economy, the steel industry has further promoted brand building since the "14th Five-Year Plan", and its international popularity and reputation have gradually improved. On May 11, reporters from China Development and Reform News and World Metal Herald interviewed Zhang Longqiang, Deputy Secretary-General of China Iron and Steel Association, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Metallurgical Industry Information Standards Research Institute, about the "China Iron and Steel" brand during the steel conference of the 2024 China Brand Development Conference.

Reporter: With the joint efforts of industry enterprises, the brand building of mainland steel has achieved positive results, and the brand development awareness of iron and steel enterprises has been continuously enhanced.

Zhang Longqiang: Steel splashes, steaming, dirty and dangerous...... For a long time, the steel industry has formed an established stereotype in people's minds. Nowadays, relying on advanced technology, China's iron and steel enterprises have got rid of the past production methods, and are accelerating the gorgeous transformation of high-end, intelligent and green, showing a new production form. I will describe the current situation of the "China Steel" brand in six dimensions, including global influence - large, world-class enterprises - strong, industrial chain map - complete, products and services - excellent, sustainable development - green, production digital intelligence - fast. On the whole, China's steel brand is described as "the backbone of steel and a century-old leader".

Reporter: The "China Steel" brand you just mentioned can be described from six dimensions, please describe the main content of the six dimensions.

Zhang Longqiang: The main contents of the six dimensions of "Steel Backbone and Centennial Leadership" are as follows:

First, it has great global influence. On the production side, China's crude steel output has always ranked first in the world since 1996, and its proportion in the world has remained above 50% since 2017. On the consumer side, China's apparent steel consumption has always ranked first in the world since 1999, accounting for more than 50% of the global proportion since 2019. From the perspective of standardization, by the end of 2023, the proportion of steel standards led by China in the same field of ISO will rise to 14.3%; In the past five years, the cumulative number of steel international standards issued has ranked first among all countries.

Second, it is a world-class enterprise. In 2022, there are 6 of the top 10 steel companies in the world in terms of crude steel production, accounting for 60% of the world. In the 2023 Fortune Global 500 list, 18 steel companies from around the world are on the list, and 12 are from China, accounting for 2/3 of the world. In 2023, there are 11 of the top 20 companies in the Global Steel Enterprise Patent Innovation Index, accounting for more than 50% of the world. CITIC Special Steel has become a highly influential special steel enterprise in the world.

Third, the industrial chain map is complete. China Iron and Steel has applied the world's advanced technology, equipment, process and technology, and has built the world's most complete and largest steel industry system. The localization rate of the main equipment of the main process is more than 95%. China has set up 50 colleges and universities majoring in metallurgical engineering, and more than 20 iron and steel engineering design units.

Fourth, excellent products and services. The top five companies have released more than 120 world premiere products. The structure of steel varieties is complete, and the upgrading has achieved remarkable results, fully meeting the market demand; Integrate into the global supply chain and contribute China's good steel to the development of the world economy. They are the "stabilizer" and "ballast stone" that support the rapid development of China's economy and society and the smooth operation of the national economy. Provide a series of key steel varieties and metal materials for China to accelerate the construction of a science and technology power, a manufacturing power, a transportation power, a space power, and a maritime power. For example, 100-meter heavy rail, high-steel grade oil and gas pipeline steel, high-performance automotive steel, high-grade silicon steel, high-grade stainless steel, nuclear power steel, pen tip steel, folding screen mobile phone hand-torn steel, etc. And these products support a series of great projects that have attracted worldwide attention at home and abroad. For example, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the "West-East Gas Transmission", the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the Three Gorges Project, the "Bird's Nest", the "Long March" series of carrier rockets, the "Shenzhou" series of spacecraft and other aerospace projects; The suspension bridge with the largest span in the Arctic Circle - the Harrogland Bridge in Norway, the Manwele Hydropower Station of the "Three Gorges Project" in Cameroon, and the Lusail Stadium, the main venue of the Qatar World Cup, the "Golden Bowl".

Fifth, sustainable development. China implements the world's most stringent ultra-low emission standards for pollutants, and about 50% of its production capacity has completed ultra-low emission transformation. Up to now, a total of 58 enterprises have participated in the cultivation of extreme energy efficiency in the industry with a production capacity of 440 million tons. The national iron and steel industry was rated as 151 green factory steel enterprises by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; A total of 24 iron and steel enterprises have won the title of national scenic spots, of which 6 are AAAA and 18 are AAAA. China's iron and steel enterprises lead the industrialization of hydrogen metallurgy, Baowu Eight Steel has the world's first 430 cubic meter and 2,500 cubic meter hydrogen-rich carbon cycle oxygen blast furnace (HyCROF), and Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel million-ton hydrogen-based shaft furnace; HBIS Zhangxuan Technology the world's first set of 1.2 million tons of hydrogen metallurgy demonstration project; Anshan Iron and Steel Group's world's first green hydrogen zero-carbon fluidized bed smelting project, etc. Chinese iron and steel enterprises actively publish social responsibility/ESG reports, and at the same time, they have taken responsibility and made significant achievements in the practice of public welfare and rural revitalization, and fulfilled their responsibilities to build their image overseas. For example, Shagang has been awarded the "China Charity Award" and "China Charity Outstanding Contribution Unit" for consecutive years; HBIS South Africa Mining was awarded the "Best Employer" by the South African government, HBIS Saigang Environmental Protection Project was awarded the award certificate jointly by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, and DXN Steel was awarded the title of "IGA Indonesia 3-Star Green Enterprise" (IGA: Indonesia National Green Contribution Award).

Sixth, the production of digital intelligence is fast. Four companies in the global steel industry have been selected as lighthouse factories, and two in China, namely China Baowu Shanghai Base and CITIC Pacific Special Steel Jiangyin Base. The steel industry has been selected as 29 national intelligent demonstration factories, which is significantly higher than the average level of 41 industrial categories. There are 3 long-process iron and steel enterprises in the world with a labor productivity of more than 2,000 tons/person/year, and there are 2 in China, namely Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Shandong Iron and Steel Group Yongfeng Lingang Co., Ltd. China's iron and steel enterprises are actively implementing digital transformation, 93.9% of enterprises have integrated digital transformation into their overall development strategy, and the whole industry has achieved a numerical control rate of 72.5% of key processes.

Reporter: Based on Made in China, looking at the global steel, looking forward to the future development, the steel industry to further strengthen the brand building is of great significance, what do you think about the future of the "China Steel" brand?

Zhang Longqiang: The future of the "China Steel" brand can be described as a "century of leadership", the United States and Japan and other countries have reached a peak of crude steel output 50 years later, its crude steel output will still maintain 60%-80% of the peak, China's crude steel output will be the first in the world for a long time. Since 1996, the world's steel center of gravity has shifted to China. As the world's steel center of gravity, the United Kingdom has lasted for 166 years, the United States has lasted for 88 years, and China will also be the world's steel center of gravity for a century.