Zhang Guobao-Former Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Chairman of the Expert Committee of the National Energy Administration

　　Zhang Guobao was in charge of industry, participated in the decision-making, approval, and acceptance of many major steel projects, and devoted a lot of effort in promoting the localization of major steel equipment. The construction of many major steel projects took place during this period. At the same time, he was a witness to the construction of many major steel projects, and he had a deep bond with the steel industry.

　　As a witness, Zhang Guobao talked about the Baosteel Phase II and Phase III construction, Shougang relocation, Anshan Iron and Steel West District and Bayuquan Iron and Steel Project, Maanshan Iron and Steel New District, Handan Iron and Steel New District, TISCO Stainless, Jiugang Stainless, Baotou Steel, Panzhihua Iron and Steel, Northeast Special Steel, and Baosteel reorganized the Guangdong Iron and Steel Industry, made decisions on major projects such as Baosteel’s Zhanjiang Project, Wuhan Iron and Steel’s Fangchenggang Project, and promoted the little-known stories behind the localization of equipment, and contributed to the structural adjustment, innovation drive, and resolution of China’s steel industry. In-depth insights and reflections were put forward on major issues such as overcapacity and "going out".

　　This article is excerpted from: China Metallurgical News, August 27, 2015 01 edition.

　　Looking back at the development of my country’s iron and steel industry since the 1990s, we can see the rapid development of crude steel output indicators alone: ​​the annual output of crude steel exceeded 100 million tons in 1996 and 200 million tons in 2003. With an annual increase of 100 million tons, crude steel production reached 823 million tons in 2014. In the history of the development of the steel industry, only the United States, the former Soviet Union, and Japan had annual output of more than 100 million tons of steel, but they did not reach 200 million tons. At the same time of rapid development, my country's steel industry is currently facing a series of major challenges such as serious overcapacity. I have participated in the decision-making and approval of many steel-related projects, and have deep feelings for my country's steel industry. In my opinion, looking back on the development of my country's steel industry, there are many major issues worthy of serious consideration.

 

 

　　Although, in recent years, emerging industries such as the Internet and the virtual economy have developed rapidly and have become sunrise industries, while traditional industries such as steel seem to have become sunset industries. But steel is just like food. It does not become dispensable because of the development of emerging industries. On the contrary, although steel and food are not emerging industries, they are evergreen industries. Important basic raw materials. my country's steel industry has made great contributions to supporting the rapid development of the national economy.

　　Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, my country’s industry has continued to develop rapidly, and a complete, independent and complete industrial system has been established. Undoubtedly, my country has become a big manufacturing country, which has strongly promoted the process of my country's industrialization and modernization, significantly enhanced its overall national strength, and supported its status as a world power. It must be noted that my country has become a major manufacturing country and the iron and steel industry is indispensable. The iron and steel industry has greatly supported and promoted the defense industry, petroleum industry, shipbuilding industry, construction industry, and equipment manufacturing industry.

　　Without the support of the iron and steel industry, my country’s shipbuilding industry would not be able to account for such a large proportion of the world.

　　In 2003, I wrote a report to the central leadership suggesting that China should be the world’s largest shipbuilding country. In 2010, my country’s shipbuilding volume reached 65.6 million deadweight tons, accounting for 43.6% of the world’s shipbuilding market volume, ranking first in the world. In 1975, my country's shipbuilding industry and South Korea accounted for only 1% of the global share, Japan accounted for 50%, and Europe accounted for 43%.

　　Of course, in terms of technical content, my country’s shipbuilding industry still has a gap with South Korea. However, if the technical content is converted into revised gross tonnage, my country has now surpassed South Korea, which has stimulated a lot of steel consumption. If our country does not have such a strong shipbuilding capability, there will be no way to talk about aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers. These are inseparable from the steel industry.

　　It is understood that in the first 15 years of the 21st century, my country produced about 7 billion tons of steel. Without these 7 billion tons of steel, how can row upon row of tall buildings, criss-cross railways and highways be built? Steel is like a hard bone, which strongly supports the rise of our country.

　　An important dream of Chairman Mao Zedong is to build a strong iron and steel industry. At that time, slogans such as taking steel as the key link, raising the steel marshal's account, and Angang's constitution were put forward. The main content of the "Great Leap Forward" in 1958 was the struggle to reach an annual output of 10.7 million tons of steel, which set off a large-scale steel smelting movement throughout the country. In this process, failure to follow economic laws also caused a lot of losses.

　　Why does Chairman Mao attach so much importance to the steel industry? Because steel is the foundation of industrialization and the foundation for realizing the dream of a powerful Chinese nation. An important reason for China's humiliation in modern history is that our science and technology are backward and there is no modern industry. After the failure of the Opium War, people of insight engaged in the Westernization Movement, and Zhang Zhidong founded the Hanyang Iron Works, and only then did he establish a very weak steel industry. During the 8 years of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Japan’s average annual steel output reached more than 5 million tons, while China’s average annual steel output was only about 5,000 tons. For aircraft carriers and Type Zero fighters, the Chinese people fight the Japanese aggressors with flesh and blood, because our country’s weapons, equipment, and material conditions such as guns, bullets, and so on can’t be compared with Japan. Therefore, it made sense for Chairman Mao to develop the steel industry at that time. When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, our country had only 158,000 tons of steel; in 1958, our slogan was 10.7 million tons of steel. At that time, I was still in middle school and participated in large-scale steel smelting, building small blast furnaces, and setting up refractory brick factories. The scars left by the iron ore hitting the hand when the iron ore was hit still remain. However, in 1958, the number of iron sold in the pot did not reach 10.7 million tons, and it only reached 13 million tons in 1959. Some of them were smelted in small blast furnaces and were substandard products. In the following 20 years, the steel industry developed slowly. Before the construction of Baosteel, the national steel output was less than 30 million tons. Only through reform and opening up and Baosteel's construction and commissioning, the quality and quantity of my country's steel industry have rapidly improved. The level of equipment technology has reached a big stage, and it has grown into the world's largest producer. The iron and steel industry is constantly adjusting and progressing with the changes of the times.

 

 

　　After the reform and opening up, the biggest event in my country's iron and steel industry was the construction of Baosteel. It can be said that the completion and commissioning of Baosteel not only brought my country's iron and steel industry, but also brought the comprehensive strength of the industry to a big step.

　　I used to be the director of the National Acceptance Committee of Baosteel Phase III Project. Baosteel has been under construction for 22 years. Construction started in 1978, with a break in the middle, and then resumed construction. There are three phases in total. The final investment in the third phase is 62 billion yuan, which is China's largest industrial investment project since the founding of New China.

　　I always believe that Baosteel’s construction is a milestone in my country’s modernization drive, and the process is not easy. In the 1980s, when Baosteel’s construction was suspended, Japanese equipment supply companies demanded compensation from China, while Chinese companies believed that the Japanese company’s demand for compensation was not friendly enough. Therefore, Baosteel “beat” Japan when it resumed construction and changed the 2050mm hot strip mill to Germany. Equipment, about 400 million US dollars, this is not a small order. Later, Japan sent a large delegation to Beijing to discuss the matter. Since I can speak Japanese, I worked as an interpreter for Zhao Dongwan, the deputy director of the State Planning Commission who was in charge of this work at the time. The Japanese side apologized to us and requested that Japan be given a chance. We compiled a report on this situation and reported it to the central government. After all, Japan's Nippon Steel has helped my country build Baosteel. After comprehensive consideration, the central government ordered a 1900mm slab caster from Kobe Steel, Japan. The 2050mm hot rolling mill and the 2030mm cold rolling mill are both German equipment.

　　Baosteel Construction has provided a good support project for the localization of my country's steel equipment. Basically all core equipment of Baosteel Phase I are imported, and only about 12% of the corner structural parts are domestically produced. By the second phase, it will be changed to cooperative manufacturing, and the localization rate will be greatly improved. By the third phase, the localization rate of equipment will be greatly improved. Reach 80%. With Baosteel's experience, my country's iron and steel equipment has basically achieved domestic production, such as Baotou Steel's transformation, Panzhihua's transformation, and Caofeidian's construction. The overall level of the iron and steel industry has caught up with the international advanced level.

 

 

　　my country's steel equipment is constantly improving. In the 1970s and 1980s, the typical image of a steel worker was wearing a peaked cap, holding a brazier, and wearing protective glasses. They were operating in front of the open-hearth furnace of steel making. In fact, they are all backward open-hearth furnaces, with very difficult working conditions, high energy consumption, low efficiency, and poor quality. During my tenure as deputy director of the Development and Reform Commission, there were still a large number of open hearth furnaces. The original Ministry of Metallurgy proposed to eliminate outdated equipment. We actively promoted that open hearth furnaces, blast furnaces under 300 cubic meters, and converters under 30 tons have been phased out and replaced by 4000. Cubic meters or even 5000 cubic meters of blast furnaces, slab continuous casting and rolling, refining furnaces and other equipment that have reached the world's advanced level. In the early stage of reform and opening up, my country could not even produce billet continuous casters, and needed to import equipment and technology from abroad; mining equipment was also extremely backward, with a maximum production capacity of 4 cubic meters of excavators, and electric wheeled vehicles could not be produced. Now, 56 cubic meters of large electric shovel and 320 tons of electric wheeled vehicles have been produced. Among the twelve complete sets of equipment listed in the State Council’s Major Equipment Office in the 1980s, one set is semi-related to the iron and steel industry: one is Baosteel’s complete set of equipment, including 2050 mm hot strip mills and 1900 mm slab casters. , 2030 mm cold rolling mill, etc.; the other is a complete set of 10 million-ton open-pit mine equipment. I call it a "half set" because the complete set of 10 million-ton open-pit mine equipment can also be used in coal mines and non-ferrous metal mines. The main content of the equipment research is 16 cubic meters, 23 cubic meters of electric shovel, 108 tons, 154 tons of electric wheeled vehicles.
　　 Since Baosteel began its construction, my country’s metallurgical equipment has continued to innovate and its manufacturing capacity has been continuously enhanced. Most of the rolling mills designed by SMS and Deutsche Mark, the world's strongest metallurgical equipment design and manufacturing company, are also subcontracted to China's First Heavy Industries and other enterprises. We also tried some advanced technology and equipment. For example, the Jianshan Iron Mine in Taiyuan was the first to adopt pipeline transportation in China, and it was subsequently adopted in Dahongshan, Yunnan. Advanced equipment is very important to improve the technological level of my country's iron and steel industry. It is precisely with the advanced equipment that the labor productivity will increase, the energy consumption and material consumption will be drastically reduced, and the product quality can be improved, and advanced technology and products can be researched and developed. At present, China's comprehensive steel price index is only 60% of 1994 when energy prices, raw material prices, and labor costs have increased significantly. Without advanced technology and equipment, many companies simply cannot support it.

 

 

　　Regarding the structural adjustment of my country's iron and steel industry, I have experienced several major iron and steel enterprise restructuring and construction events. Although the process is tortuous, it is worth learning and thinking about.

　　China’s steel industry was basically developed in large cities, and mainly concentrated in provincial capitals. With the continuous expansion of urban functions, steel plants have become one of the pollution sources of the city and have a great impact on the local environment. For example, Shougang, where the previous position was superior, and although the smog in Beijing in the early days has not received as much attention as it is today, the water supply in Beijing is already quite tight. Shougang has a great impact on Beijing's environment. Therefore, the country hopes to make adjustments for the first time. Raised the issue of the relocation of Shougang.

　　Shougang is one of the earliest companies in my country to produce 10 million tons of steel. Whether it is from a political, economic, or technical point of view, it has a very important position in the history of the development of my country’s iron and steel industry. The difficulty of moving out of Beijing can be imagined. In addition, Shougang also involves the employment of about 100,000 people and Beijing's tax revenue of 2 billion yuan. Therefore, everyone's understanding is not consistent in many aspects. I suggest relocation. I suggest that the non-polluting departments of Shougang headquarters and scientific research and sales can continue to stay in Beijing, and some equipment manufacturing can also be left untouched to reduce the difficulty of relocation. Mainly remove the more polluting links such as blast furnace ironmaking and converter steelmaking. However, due to various reasons, it was mainly because of inconsistent understanding or shelved it. Later, because of Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, everyone's understanding of environmental protection changed, and they unified their thinking and determined to move to Shougang. I used to be the deputy leader of the Shougang Relocation Leading Group. At that time, some measures were taken to take care of the requirements of Beijing and Shougang, reduce the resistance to relocation as much as possible. For example, the construction of a cold rolling plant in Shunyi retains part of its production capacity, which can place part of employment and retain some taxes. The state also provided some funds to support the relocation of Shougang. After Shougang moved to Caofeidian, the National Development and Reform Commission tried its best to negotiate with Shougang and Tanggang to join forces, which is now Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Company.

　　Baosteel's restructuring of Guangdong's iron and steel industry is much more complicated than the relocation of Shougang. Baosteel Group has long planned to establish a coastal steel base, and Guangdong Province is the fastest-growing province since the reform and opening up. Foreign steel accounts for 80% of the total steel demand in Guangdong Province. The leaders of Guangdong Province and local steel companies Shaogang and Guangzhou Steel Hope to further expand production capacity. Guangzhou Iron and Steel was not a big steel plant in the country, but it had a great influence in Guangdong Province, especially in Guangzhou City. At that time, the iron and steel industry had overcapacity and it was imminent to increase industrial concentration. If the Zhanjiang base was built, outdated production capacity had to be eliminated and replaced by the same amount, that is, Guangzhou Iron and Steel and Zhujiang Steel Plants were shut down, Shaoguan Iron and Steel, etc. were reorganized, and Baosteel was reorganized. The steel industry in Guangdong province makes it difficult for many people to accept emotionally. However, only reorganization can develop. After a long period of negotiation, Baosteel finally agreed to invest in the reorganization, and the local government was responsible for personnel placement. The thermal processing of Guangzhou Iron and Steel and Zhujiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was shut down and transformed into steel trading enterprises. The two large steel plants shut down about 5 million tons of production capacity, together with other small steel production capacity, totaling about 10 million tons, fulfilling the goal of reducing production capacity for equivalent replacement of Baosteel's Zhanjiang base construction.

　　While Baosteel is reorganizing the Guangdong iron and steel industry, WISCO also hopes to build a steel base along the coast of Guangxi. Otherwise, WISCO is located in the central part, and the transportation cost of imported iron ore alone will not be able to compete with coastal steel mills. Guangxi Province also proposes to build modern steel. Base requirements. Baosteel’s Zhanjiang base and WISCO’s Fangchenggang base are intertwined. It is not justified to approve only one of them. In the case of overcapacity concerns, it is even more difficult to make decisions. Therefore, we proposed to allow Wuhan Iron and Steel to reorganize Guangxi Iron and Steel, which involves the structural adjustment of the regional layout. In the past, many steel plants were built on iron ore resources; now, 80% of my country’s iron ore is imported from abroad. Compared with coastal steel plants in the inland, the transportation cost is much higher. Therefore, steel companies hope to find them in the coastal areas. New production base. So I discussed with the leaders of Wuhan Iron and Steel, and suggested that part of the steel production capacity in Hubei Province should be eliminated, and at the same time, the adjustment of Liuzhou Iron and Steel should also be taken into consideration. From the perspective of structural adjustment, I think that the goal of industrial structure optimization can be achieved by building new bases to eliminate small backward production capacity.

　　Industrial transformation and structural adjustment are easy to say, but difficult to do. After eliminating backward production capacity and reshuffling the regional layout, as a labor-intensive and industry-driven metallurgical industry, a large number of employees need to be resettled. For example, Baosteel reorganized Shanghai Steel. Baosteel had only 20,000 people at that time. It was very difficult to solve the employment problem of about 200,000 steel workers from Shanghai Steel's No. 1 to No. 10 factories. But later, he took this step resolutely. Baosteel reorganized the original old factories, some specialized in stainless steel, some changed to produce plates, and some produced wire materials such as steel cords, and gradually transformed the old steel enterprises. This is a very successful case.

　　Restructuring will always encounter various difficulties, such as the restructuring of Hangzhou Iron and Steel. Hangzhou is originally a tourist city. Hangzhou Iron and Steel is located in the mid-levels of Hangzhou. Although the mid-levels is not a core scenic spot, it is not harmonious enough to place a steel plant in this place. Moreover, Hangzhou Iron and Steel is similar to Guangzhou Iron and Steel, only about 300 cubic meters of blast furnace, although the overall operating efficiency of real estate and other industries is better, but compared with the requirements of modern steel plants, it has fallen behind. At that time, we hoped that Hangzhou Iron and Steel would take over Ningbo Iron and Steel and move directly to Ningbo. Later, because Hangzhou Iron and Steel had different opinions, it was actually unwilling to leave Hangzhou, so it dragged it down. But now, we still have to take this reorganization road, because next year's G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou, and Hangzhou Steel must be shut down by the end of this year.

　　The progress and structural adjustment of steel equipment has driven the continuous progress of product structure and technical structure. At present, most of my country's steel products have been made domestically, and their technology has gradually reached the international level. In terms of products, such as casing pipes in the petroleum industry, X70 and X80 steels for long-distance natural gas pipelines in the energy industry, steel plates for ultra-low-cold LNG (liquefied natural gas) storage tanks, and steel plates for LNG transport ships have been localized. Some special steel products, such as automobile steel cord, suspension bridge steel rope, mine, elevator hoisting steel cable, etc., although localized, the quality is not stable; technically, such as dry quenching, blast furnace gas power generation, etc. have been widely used , The conversion of coke oven gas into natural gas is gradually promoted. Some have to explore, like COREX (smelting reduction method, a non-coking ironmaking technology developed by voestalpine), short-flow steelmaking technology has not been applied as expected. Of course, there is still a certain gap between my country and foreign countries in many aspects such as high-end products and environmental protection. For example, the 700℃ ultra-supercritical boiler steel used in the energy industry cannot be made domestically and is still being tackled; many steel enterprises have energy consumption per ton of steel and other indicators. There is also a big gap with foreign countries. In the future, the iron and steel industry will continue to drive innovation in products and technologies, develop green, and meet new demands.

　　Discussing structural adjustment, I have to mention special steel. The rise of special steel enterprises has played a positive role in the structural adjustment of the steel industry. I have personally experienced the construction of special steel enterprises such as Panzhihua Iron and Steel, Taiyuan Iron and Steel Stainless, Northeast Special Steel, and Jiuquan Stainless Steel. For example, there was no petroleum steel pipe factory in our country at that time, and the Tianjin Seamless Steel Pipe Plant was built; the process was very difficult. During the period, Baosteel had considered letting Baosteel merge with Tianjin Seamless Steel Pipe Plant due to business problems. The first set of equipment of the Tianjin Seamless Steel Pipe Plant was imported, and the financial costs were high, and it suffered serious losses. The state provided financial funds for financial reorganization, which reduced the price of domestic petroleum steel pipes by half. Although these constructions have gone through ups and downs and paid a great price, the construction of these special steels has changed the situation that many special steels in my country need to be imported at high prices, filled the domestic gaps, and promoted the overall progress of my country's steel industry.

　　Industrial transformation and structural adjustment is an arduous process and will not be smooth sailing. The relocation of Shougang and the shutdown of Guangzhou Iron & Steel have encountered many difficult problems, experienced painful processes, and involved all aspects of problems. These are all troubles in the growth process of the major steel industry. However, this step must be taken. As my country's economy enters a new normal, my country's steel industry has also entered a new normal of "three lows and one high" of low growth, low prices, low efficiency and high pressure. At present, steel companies rely on low-price competition, and now China's steel composite price index is only equivalent to 60% of 1994. In other words, after 20 years, prices and labor costs have risen, and steel prices have not risen, but have fallen. These are all digested by technological progress and large-scale operations. Corporate profits are meager or even losses, and it is difficult to maintain for a long time. In addition, environmental protection requirements are getting higher and higher. If environmental protection is not up to standard, more companies will shut down. For the iron and steel industry, the most important aspect of the "13th Five-Year" development plan is structural adjustment, which is an important issue related to the survival of the iron and steel industry.

 

 

　　For a long time, there has been a lot of debate about whether China's steel production capacity is large or small, and how much capacity is appropriate. A set of data shows that from the discovery of the American continent to the present, the United States has used about 10 billion tons of steel to build bridges, railways, buildings, airports, etc.; Japan has used about 6 billion tons of steel from the beginning of the Meiji Restoration to the present. China used about 8.5 billion tons of steel for construction from 1949 to last year. China is currently in the development stage, and a lot of infrastructure construction is still needed. In terms of China's land area, I think it should be around 10 billion tons of steel. The economy has different characteristics at different stages of development, and the issue of production capacity should be viewed dialectically. The United States, the former Soviet Union, and Japan produced more than 100 million tons of steel during the period of rapid economic development; now that the rapid development phase has passed, infrastructure has been improved, demand has fallen, and steel output has fallen below 100 million tons, and they are also facing painful adjustments. . The area around the Great Lakes in the United States with Chicago as the center is called the "Rust Belt", and industrial restructuring must also be carried out.

　　Now that China’s steel production capacity is surplus, market forces will definitely make adjustments to make the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources and better play the role of the government. Some people hope that economic development will always be stable, no more, no less. This is the ideal state of a planned economy, but in fact it cannot be done. In fact, the economy develops in waves, and I think this is truly in line with economic laws. For example, many steel companies now have to shut down if they don't make money or even lose money. To survive, they must work hard to innovate and develop, such as research and development of new products, do everything possible to reduce costs, work hard on environmental protection, work hard to "go out", and transform and develop. Explore the road of transformation and upgrading, so that my country's steel industry can enter a new stage of development. After the economic development enters the new normal, a drop in steel production will inevitably occur.

 

 

　　In terms of steel exports, I am in favor of increasing taxes on billet exports, and discourage the export of low-grade steel products with high energy consumption, especially low-grade steel billets and ferroalloys. For high-value-added manufactured products, such as pipes and plates, it is impossible for China to not export at the current stage of development. This is determined by global market demand. my country has become a major manufacturing country, and a large number of people need employment, which is determined by national conditions. my country exported nearly 100 million tons of steel last year, and about 80 million tons of steel were "taken out" by mechanical equipment, power generation equipment, refrigerators, air conditioners, automobiles, and ships. Together, these two items totaled nearly 200 million tons. Japan exports more than my country. Japan does not have energy or iron ore, but it exports about 40% of steel, and my country exports about 11% of steel. Compared with large iron and steel producing countries, my country's export ratio is still moderate.

　　Export means "going out" of products, and at the same time, we must also consider the "going out" of production capacity. In the past, we focused on the domestic market, but now we are gradually adjusting to a structure that emphasizes both "bringing in and going out". In recent years, my country has invested in foreign countries, first in Australia's Chana iron ore, and later in Peru iron ore and Brazil iron ore. my country imported 930 million tons of iron ore last year, and the dependence on iron ore imports is about 80%. Investment in "going out" is also an objective need.

　　At present, my country's iron and steel industry has serious overcapacity, and the "four batches" of effective ways to resolve overcapacity also mention "going out" and transferring one group. The construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative has brought huge opportunities for steel to “go global” at a higher level. The “Belt and Road” has now become a national-level strategy, and the world is actively participating, involving about 60% of the world’s population and more than 60 countries. In the process of promoting the construction of the “Belt and Road”, everyone is a community of interests and a community of destiny, and steel companies have a lot to do. For example, some industrial projects in our country want to be transferred to Kazakhstan, some of which are related to steel, and Kazakhstan is also very supportive. In the past, Jiuquan Steel wanted to cooperate with Kazakhstan because they had iron ore and could continue to supply it in the future. At that time, due to some reasons, the negotiation was not completed. Now with the help of the "One Belt One Road" national strategy, we can consider friendly cooperation. Indonesia is also a hot investment country. Its steel industry is small in scale, but its demand potential is huge. Recently, Indonesia took the initiative to come to us for cooperation, because Indonesia has a large number of sea-sand magnetites, and there are not many steel and metallurgical related companies in Indonesia, so I hope to cooperate with us to build steel-related projects in the local area. I think this is good for both parties. It is beneficial. I once went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold talks, and it is now gradually advancing.

　　In my opinion, steel has become one of the most competitive industries in the world. Therefore, it has the strength to go international, integrate into the world, make good use of both domestic and foreign markets, configure both domestic and foreign resources, and strive to make structural adjustments; at the same time, , To focus on innovation-driven, to make a fuss in every detail, reduce costs and increase efficiency, sustainable development, and promote the transformation and upgrading of my country's iron and steel industry.