Forum on developing steel industry highlights key initiatives

To sustain the achievements already made during the cutting overcapacity campaign, it is very important to give full play to the role of strict standards, and strictly implement legal, regulatory, mandatory standards for environmental protection, energy consumption, quality, safety and technology in the steel industry, a key industry official said.

Steel companies that fail to meet those standards should be asked to rectify shortcomings within a time limit; those still fail to meet the standards after a deadline has been agreed must be resolutely cleared out from the market, the official said.

Lyu Guixin, an inspector with the raw material department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made the remarks at a forum on standards for high quality development in China's steel industry, which was held at the weekend by the China Metallurgical Industry Planning & Research Institute.

"To accelerate upgrade and transformation, the steel industry should take the opportunity of deepening reforming in standardization, adhere to innovation-driven development, and constantly improve and update the standard system," Lyu said.

"Improving product quality should be a major priority, to use high standards to push forward high quality development of the industry."

He also said standards should also play an important role in Chinese steel industry's international cooperation.

Currently, European, American and host country standards are often used in international capacity cooperation, which increases Chinese enterprises' cost to obtain related standards certification, making it difficult for Chinese companies' technologies, products and services to effectively enter foreign markets, he said.

"The Chinese steel industry should jointly establish international standards for products, equipment, technology, and services with partner countries during international capacity cooperation, strengthening standards interconnection with the partner countries," he said.

Lyu added that it is necessary to speed up the making of Chinese standards system' s English equivalent, and encourage enterprises with independent innovation capabilities and superior technologies to lead or participate in the establishment of international standards, and to increase Chinese standards' presence in the international standards system.

Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning & Research Institute, said at a keynote speech to the forum that the establishment of an advanced standards system in the steel industry will help enhance product quality, as well as promote industry upgrade and technology improvement, which is of great importance to the industry's supply-side structural reform and escalating toward higher end of industry chain.