"I have always had a view that the reason why our country has such strong competitiveness and why there is still such a large trade volume in the context of a very severe international trade environment, traditional industries are indispensable. Now and in the future, traditional industries are the foundation of our national competitiveness, and will not be absent in the process of developing new quality productive forces, and they are more urgent than emerging industries and future industries. On March 7, Zhao Minge, deputy to the National People's Congress, secretary of the party committee and chairman of Shougang Group, in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Metallurgical News, began to clearly express his judgment on the value of traditional industries, and then focused on the three core topics of new quality productivity, "anti-involution" in the steel industry, and steel export optimization, and talked about development thinking and suggestions for the two sessions.
Effectively connect with emerging industries and future industries,
It is an important direction for the transformation of traditional industries
Why are traditional industries indispensable in the development of new quality productivity? Zhao Minge explained that the key force of the steel industry in the next few years is to expand steel scenarios, and most of these new scenarios come from emerging industries and future industries, "that is, we must pay attention to non-traditional areas that used little steel in the past but are now growing rapidly."
Behind this judgment is the practical consideration of the development of the industry. In 2025, the domestic apparent consumption of crude steel has declined for five consecutive years, with a cumulative decrease of nearly 200 million tons, and the contradiction between supply and demand has been further highlighted. "The 'future energy' mentioned in the "Government Work Report", as well as the emerging industries and future industries mentioned by Zheng Zhajie, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, are new opportunities for the steel industry. Zhao Minge added that the core of new quality productivity is to seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological innovation, and this will inevitably give birth to a large number of new steel application scenarios, "such as varieties and specifications that have not been produced in the past, these new demands will become a new driving force for structural adjustment and technological innovation in the steel industry."
Optimizing the industrial environment and capacity management is the top priority
Talking about the development environment of the steel industry, Zhao Minge bluntly said that the current problem of "involution" in the industry is prominent, and the key to solving this problem is to optimize the industrial environment, of which capacity management is the primary task. "At this year's two sessions, I brought a suggestion on capacity management, hoping to close the entrance to new production capacity and smooth the exit channel for inefficient production capacity, so that this industry can really come alive." He said.
Zhao Minge said frankly that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the apparent consumption of crude steel in China fell by nearly 200 million tons, "which is an extremely serious challenge for any country." In this context, the "involution" of the steel industry presents the characteristics of "passive and active": passive involution, due to the long-term pressure of demand contraction, the total domestic steel consumption fluctuates downward after the peak, some enterprises are affected by local financial and employment pressure, superimposed on high inventory, cash flow pressure, can only survive through price reduction, "let profits not let the market", coupled with the "involution" of downstream automobiles, photovoltaic and other industries to transmit upstream, further intensifying competition; Active involution is manifested in the fact that a small number of enterprises are lucky, ignoring the grim reality of declining demand, blindly expanding production, grabbing orders at low prices, and even illegal production, which seriously impacts the industry order.
"The top priority is to solve the problem of the industrial environment." Zhao Minge said that the 2026 "Government Work Report" once again mentions "the comprehensive use of capacity regulation, standard guidance, price law enforcement, quality supervision and other means to deeply integrate 'involution' competition", releasing a clear signal to standardize the development of the industry. "At the 13th council of the sixth session of the Steel Association this year, the corresponding bill was deliberated and passed, and we set up a price supervisor, hoping that enterprises in the industry can standardize their operations under the consensus rules of the Steel Association, which is an important guarantee for maintaining the healthy development of the industry."
At the same time, he is also full of confidence in the development of the industry: "The steel industry has a very fine tradition, always attaching importance to technological innovation, user needs and industrial structure adjustment, these are our advantages, and will also become the confidence to crack the 'involution', hoping that the entire industry can unite and achieve high-quality development." ”
It is recommended to restore export tax rebates for high-end products,
Practice the strategy of "promoting high-end, stabilizing the periphery, and strictly supervising"
In response to the export tax rebate of high-end steel products commonly called for by the industry, Zhao Minge put forward specific suggestions based on the actual situation of the industry: "In order to stabilize the export scale of China's high-end products and maintain the status and competitiveness of China's high-end steel products in the international high-end industrial chain, it is recommended to optimize the export scale and structure of steel products, and restore the 13% export tax rebate rate for some high-end products such as electrical steel, automobile plates, tin-plated plates, and seamless steel pipes, involving 18 tariff codes, with a total annual export volume of about 8 million tons and a total annual export value of about 10 billion US dollars." ”
He further explained that the export volume of these high-end products is stable and the export price is high, but after the cancellation of export tax rebates, the international competitiveness has declined significantly. "Stabilizing the export of such products is crucial to maintaining the share of China's high-end steel products in the global automobile, new energy, electric power, oil and gas, canning and other industrial chains, and is also an important support for promoting the high-quality development of the steel industry." Zhao Minge emphasized.
While paying attention to the optimization of export tax rebates for high-end steel products, another important policy affecting the export of the steel industry has also recently been implemented - on January 1, 2026, after 16 years, the steel export license management system will be implemented again. Announcement No. 79 issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs clearly states that a total of 300 codes of steel products under Chapters 72 and 73 of the Customs will be subject to export license management, covering the vast majority of steel, pig iron and billets, covering the entire industrial chain from raw materials to finished products.
"This is an important measure to guide the standardized export of steel products and promote the high-quality development of the industry." Zhao Minge said that since the implementation of the policy, the normal customs declaration process of enterprises has been adjusted, and its actual impact on iron and steel enterprises and upstream and downstream industries remains to be seen.