On September 20, during the 15th China International Steel Congress and the 2nd China International Steel Week, Jiang Wei, Party Secretary, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), met with Veysel Yayan, Secretary General of the Turkish Steel Producers Association (TCUD), in Shanghai. Su Changyong, Deputy Secretary General of CISA, and Su Buxin, Deputy Secretary General of the Metallurgical Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), also attended the meeting. The two sides held candid discussions on association development, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), scrap steel utilization, carbon market development, steel imports and exports, and deeper industrial cooperation. Under the theme of the conference, “Innovation through Collaboration, Quality and Upgrading,” they reached consensus on several areas of future cooperation.
Jiang Wei welcomed Veysel Yayan to the conference and expressed support for the Turkish side’s view that “the global steel industry needs to strengthen global economic integration.” He also recognized the progress made by Turkey’s short-process steelmaking industry. Jiang noted that China’s steel industry is shifting from large-scale expansion toward higher-end, smarter and greener development. CISA has been closely following developments in Turkey’s scrap resources, carbon market and steel trade, and is willing to share information on industry operations, imports and exports, and scrap resources with its Turkish counterpart while promoting technical exchanges, company visits and regular communication.
Veysel Yayan spoke positively about the conference and China’s steel industry, particularly highlighting China’s advances in green and low-carbon development and the application of AI. He expressed concern over the rise of global trade protectionism, arguing that policies in Europe and the United States that restrict imports through tariffs and carbon-related barriers are not sustainable and could weaken the competitiveness of their own industries over the long term. He called for an open, transparent and non-discriminatory free-trade environment and expressed the hope that China would continue to promote free trade and multilateral coordination internationally.
The two sides outlined several areas for future cooperation. First, they will establish regular communication mechanisms between the two associations to exchange data and industry experience. Second, they will make use of multilateral platforms such as the China International Steel Congress and the World Steel Association to build greater consensus on reducing trade barriers and strengthening connectivity. Third, they will explore mutual recognition of low-carbon standards and better alignment of carbon data in order to reduce compliance costs for exporters under mechanisms such as CBAM. The Turkish side expressed its expectation of closer communication with China to jointly contribute to an open and transparent regional steel trading environment.
As deglobalization pressures continue to rise and carbon-related rules increasingly become a factor in international trade, China is the world’s largest steel producer and consumer, while Turkey is an important short-process steel producer and steel-trading hub between Europe and Asia. Cooperation at the association level between the two countries therefore carries broader significance for the industry. China can gain a closer view of the impact of Europe’s carbon-border policies through Turkey’s geographical position and scrap-based steelmaking system, while Turkey can draw on China’s experience in green transformation and the practical application of AI in steelmaking.
Although the meeting took place at the industry-association level, it highlighted a clear direction for future cooperation. Rather than simply responding to evolving carbon-related trade requirements, major steel-producing countries are increasingly seeking to shape industry cooperation through information sharing, mutual recognition of standards and multilateral platforms. The relationship between the Chinese and Turkish steel industries is moving from information exchange toward more practical cooperation, while also creating opportunities to support greater stability in global steel supply chains, fairer trade and the industry’s low-carbon transition.
Excerpted from Steel.com
