Amid the global steel industry's ongoing green revolution, China's steel industry and China Baowu Steel Group Corp Ltd in particular have made positive achievements in fighting climate change and promoting sustainable development, according to senior industrial leaders and executives.
Since the China Iron and Steel Association published its carbon-neutral vision and low-carbon technology roadmap in 2022, an extreme energy efficiency initiative involving 143 companies has been scaled up.
Over the past three years, the initiative has saved more than 24 million metric tons of standard coal equivalent and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 60 million tons, said Jiang Wei, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, during the main forum of the Global Low-Carbon Metallurgy Innovation Forum 2026 and the 10th Baosteel Biennial Academic Conference held in Changshu, Jiangsu province, on Oct 28.
"As an important foundational industry for the country, the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel sector is closely related to China's carbon neutrality goals, as well as the market competitiveness of Chinese steel in the years to come," said Jiang at the event themed: "Green and Smart Steel Forges a Promising Future".
Hu Wangming, chairman of China Baowu Steel Group Corp Ltd and Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel), said he believes that the essence of this transformation and upgrade lies in a complete reshaping of the industry's development model, value evaluation rules and industrial ecosystem.
"The new quality productive forces would be the fundamental driving force determining how far and how deeply this transformation can go," said Hu during his keynote speech titled: "From Green to Prosperity, Jointly Shaping a Low-Carbon Emission Future for Steel".
As Hu explained, the new quality productive forces and green low-carbon values share the same origin and complement each other. The two would serve as the fundamental forces for the steel industry to innovate, and grow bigger and stronger.
Since the launch of the Carbon Neutrality Metallurgical Technology Roadmap in 2021, China Baowu, as the world's largest steel company, has pursued the in-depth integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. Without relying on a single technology path, the steel group has built a transformation technology matrix in recent years with multiple parallel routes adapted to different scenarios. This has enabled a range of low-carbon metallurgical technologies to be successfully applied in industrial settings.
According to Jiang, the world's first artificial intelligence-powered smart blast furnace, officially launched at the ironmaking control center of Baosteel's Baoshan base in Shanghai on April 3, is an example of how digital intelligence can support green transformation, boost smart production lines and take the low-carbon transition to a new stage.
"By analyzing the complex internal interactions, the system based on data and AI can now generate highly accurate forecasts, with an accuracy rate of more than 90 percent, enabling a single blast furnace to reduce carbon emissions by about 5 kilograms per ton of molten iron produced," said Jiang.
In Baosteel, blast furnace ironmaking accounts for around 70 percent of total steel production costs.
Thanks to sustained innovation among Chinese steelmakers, the country's steel industry has made broad progress in low-carbon technologies.
"As of the end of 2025, a total of 63.7 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) had been invested by the 70 benchmark steel companies over the preceding three years, helping them reduce their average annual energy costs by 22.3 yuan per ton of steel," Jiang said.
"In my travels in China, I have seen many examples of successful automation and digitalization projects. I have seen many examples of digital twinning, which I believe to be class-leading in its use," said Edwin Basson, director general of the World Steel Association, during a speech via video.
According to Basson, four megatrends in particular will shape the steel industry in the years to come: climate change and its impact on the steel industry; changes in the use of technology; significant changes in society's demographics; as well as geopolitical adjustments as society moves away from globalization.
