On May 9, a landmark event focused on the future of the steel industry took place in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province. The “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” Project Launch Conference, themed “Quality Leads, Brand Unites,” along with the Quality Regulation Promotion and Brand Co-building Seminar, was officially convened. The conference announced the full-scale launch of the “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” project, designed to lead a fundamental transformation of the industry. This marks a clarion call for China’s steel industry to shift from “scale expansion” to “quality and brand” on its path from being a large producer to a strong one.

I. Consensus on Transformation: Solving “Big but Not Strong,” Forging a New Path of “Winning with Quality”

China’s steel industry is currently in the early stages of transformation, characterized by both reduced growth and structural optimization. At the launch conference, Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President, and Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), delivered a profound analysis of the industry’s current state. He noted that although China’s crude steel output has ranked first in the world for 29 consecutive years, the fundamental problem of supply exceeding demand remains unresolved, keeping the industry at a persistently low level of profitability.

An even more severe challenge lies in structural weaknesses. Jiang emphasized that insufficient supply of high-end products, the need for improved quality stability, and a mismatch between brand value and industrial scale have become key bottlenecks preventing the industry from moving up to the mid-to-high end of the value chain. Facing this reality, attendees reached a strong consensus: the core of market competition is no longer just products and price; “quality plus brand are the core confidence for enterprises to stand firm in the market and achieve stable profitability.” The path of “winning with quality” is the only choice for the industry’s sustainable development.

The “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” project is endowed with strategic significance for breaking the vicious cycle of internal competition and leading transformation and upgrading. At the national level, it lays the foundation for building a manufacturing powerhouse and a quality powerhouse. At the industry level, it serves as a lever to guide competition from “quantity” to “quality.” At the enterprise level, it is the necessary path to building core competitiveness that can withstand market cycles.

II. Project Blueprint: Three Pillars to Build a New Industry Development System

The “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” project is not an empty slogan but a clear framework for action. Zhu Jianguo, CISA’s Commissioner for Special Affairs, introduced that the project rests on three pillars: “Strengthening Foundations, Establishing Standards, and Creating Brands.” The goal is to systematically address the industry’s quality shortcomings. Its core objective is to promote a quality-first philosophy across the industry, improve market mechanisms that reward higher quality with better prices, and achieve a complete transformation from scale expansion to quality improvement and from speed priority to benefit priority.

Zhu stated that throughout the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the steel industry will use this project to build a new quality development system based on standards, supported by quality infrastructure, and driven by brands. To this end, Jiang Wei put forward five specific requirements for project implementation: strengthening quality and brand awareness, improving market mechanisms for premium quality at premium prices, activating technological innovation momentum, deepening integration along the industrial chain, and enhancing industry culture cultivation. These five requirements cover concepts, mechanisms, technology, ecosystem, and culture, providing comprehensive guidance for the project’s execution.

As a representative of leading industry enterprises, the host, Yonggang Group, provided a micro-level example of “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” in practice. Wu Yaofang, Chairman of the Board of Yongzhuo Holding, introduced that Yonggang has established a “point, line, and surface” quality improvement system – achieving breakthroughs in key products at the “point” level, relying on system construction along the “line,” and ultimately realizing comprehensive high-quality development across the entire “surface.”

III. Parallel Actions: Low-Carbon, Ecosystem, and Industrial Chain Collaboration

The launch conference was not just about unveiling a blueprint but also about initiating action. Several substantive efforts were advanced concurrently during the conference, demonstrating the multi-dimensional practical pathways of “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation.”

1. Green Becomes a New Quality Dimension
The conference site launched the second batch of low-carbon emission steel evaluations for 2026. As of April 2026, the industry has issued a total of 34 low-carbon emission steel evaluation certificates, covering various categories from crude steel to plates and pipes. This indicates that “low-carbon” is becoming an indispensable quality attribute and a new brand label for steel products, representing the core manifestation of “quality improvement” in the dimension of green development.

2. Expert Insights and Platform Empowerment
During special report sessions, Liu Zhuohui, an academician of the International Academy for Quality, elaborated on the strategic significance of quality infrastructure; Fan Tiejun, Deputy President of China Metallurgical News, shared perspectives on the future of brand building; and Dr. Zhang Mingming, Secretary of the Steel EPD Platform, introduced practical applications of the low-carbon data platform. These insights provided intellectual support for project implementation from theoretical, strategic, and tool-based perspectives.

3. Building a Collaborative Development Ecosystem
Crucially, concurrent meetings included the “First Steel Ecosystem Brand Co-building” seminar and exchanges on detailed rules related to production licenses. This clearly demonstrates that “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” is not a “solo performance” by producers but a “chorus” requiring the participation of all parties in the industrial chain, including standard-setters, certification bodies, and downstream users. Deepening industrial chain integration and building a collaborative ecosystem to break through challenges is a key part of enhancing the overall brand value of China’s steel industry.

IV. Uniting for a New Era of Value Competition

Hosted by the China Iron and Steel Association, organized by Jiangsu Yonggang Group, and supported by numerous entities across the upstream and downstream industrial chain, the conference attracted nearly 300 participants. From the profound insights of industry leaders to the practical experience shared by key enterprises and the co-building discussions among ecosystem partners, the industry’s resolve and pathway to reshaping core competitiveness through quality and brand have become unprecedentedly clear.

The launch of the “Quality Improvement & Brand Creation” project represents a critical choice and collective action for China’s steel industry at a historic turning point. It confronts the industry’s deepest contradictions and charts a new course away from homogeneous low-price competition toward value-based competition. With quality as a shared consensus and brand as a common pursuit, China’s steel industry will pool its strengths and embark together on a more resilient, sustainable, and respected future of high-quality development.