China Iron and Steel Association: Strive to foster a new‑ecosystem for the steel industry featuring superior quality, advanced standards and reputable brands.

Guided by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), the annual conference was hosted by the CISA Quality and Standardization Committee and the Metallurgical Science‑and‑Technology Development Center. Centering on key topics including quality upgrading, standard‑driven development and brand cultivation, the conference exchanged advanced experience, arranged priority tasks, and strived to elevate the high‑end, intelligent and green development of the steel industry to new heights. The photo captures the scene of the plenary session.

Jiang Wei, Party‑Committee Secretary, Vice‑President and Secretary‑General of CISA, addressed the conference. Gao Jianbing, Chairman of the CISA Quality and Standardization Committee, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Baowu Steel Group Co., Ltd., delivered the committee’s work report. Liu Ao, Director of the Standards Division under the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, gave a video speech. Relevant officials from the Industrial Products Division of the Product Quality Safety Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation delivered onsite remarks. Li Yanxia, Member of the Party Committee and Chief Engineer of the China Machinery Industry Federation, presented a special report entitled Collaborative Integration of Machinery and Steel Industries to Build an Innovation Community for New‑quality Productive Forces. Feng Chao, Member of the CISA Party Committee, Deputy Secretary‑General and Director of the Science‑Technology and Environmental Protection Department, presided over the morning plenary session.

Leading officials and guests attending the conference included Zhu Jianguo, Special Director of CISA and Chief Technical Expert of China Minmetals; Ruan Xiaojiang, Vice‑President of Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd.; Wu Xiaolin, Deputy Chief Engineer of Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Co., Ltd.; Chi Guiyou, Executive President and Secretary‑General of the Hebei Metallurgical Industry Association; Ma Zhaohui, Full‑time Deputy Director of the Carbon Neutrality Office and Deputy Director of the Energy and Environmental Protection Department of China Baowu Steel Group Co., Ltd.; Zhang Zhigang, General Manager of Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.; Nan Hai, Deputy General Manager of Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd.; Yan Kequan, Senior Vice‑President of Ouyeel Cloud Business Co., Ltd.; Zhu Xing’an, Vice‑President of Guangdong Zhongnan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.; Guan Zhijie, Vice‑President of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute; Peng Kediao, Chief Engineer of Sichuan Metallurgical Holding Group Co., Ltd.; Wang Yue, Vice‑President of Zhongxin Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd.; and Zhan Xiaowei, Deputy General Manager of Guangxi Beigang New Materials Co., Ltd.

In his speech, Jiang Wei noted that the CISA Quality and Standardization Committee takes the “Quality Improvement and Brand Building Initiative” as the overarching guide for its top‑level systematic planning. The initiative aims to genuinely boost enterprises’ quality‑management capabilities and awareness, realize premium prices for superior‑quality products, thereby lifting the quality and brand performance of the whole sector and supporting the industry through the critical phase of “output reduction and stock‑based optimization”. He put forward four proposals for further and effective implementation of the “Quality Improvement and Brand Building Initiative”: first, foster a sound quality ecosystem to generate momentum for quality and efficiency gains; second, strengthen the standard‑system development to underpin industrial upgrading; third, advance metrology capacity building to consolidate the foundation for quality‑oriented growth; fourth, deepen brand‑value cultivation to lead value leapfrogging across the industry.

On behalf of the CISA Quality and Standardization Committee, Gao Jianbing delivered the committee’s 2026 annual work report. The report comprehensively reviewed achievements in quality‑brand and standardization work over the past year, analyzed the current situation and existing challenges for quality improvement and standardization in the steel sector, and systematically mapped out upcoming priorities: refining quality‑system construction, pursuing quality‑and‑efficiency gains via standards, deep‑going quality‑brand cultivation, and advancing the internationalization of standards and brands. He emphasized that fully rolling out the steel industry’s “Quality Improvement and Brand Building Initiative” and consolidating industrial foundations as well as unlocking growth momentum through the integrated development of quality, standards and metrology constitutes one of the core tasks for the high‑quality development of the whole industry.

In her special report, Li Yanxia elaborated on the symbiotic relationship between the machinery and steel industries, analyzed the machinery sector’s operating performance and steel demand, and shared ideas, measures and experience for advancing their coordinated and integrated development, offering valuable references for both industries to jointly pursue stable operation and high‑quality growth.

The conference hosted a launching ceremony for the grading, upgrading and cultivation of steel‑product quality capability and for the national standard Evaluation Methods for Low‑emission Steel. It also officially released GPI Version 3.0, the EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) platform covering the entire steel industrial chain.

Several senior industry experts were invited to share cutting‑edge concepts, interpret industry trends and pass on practical experience focusing on quality improvement, international‑standard formulation and brand building.

Zheng Jingxu, Deputy Director of the Standards and Quality Division under CISA’s Science‑Technology and Environmental Protection Department, presented the report The Steel Industry “Quality Improvement and Brand Building Initiative”: Quality‑capability Grading, Upgrading and Cultivation for Hot‑rolled Ribbed Bars and Steel Plates for Ship and Offshore Engineering. He highlighted work plans for grading, upgrading and cultivating steel‑product quality capability. Grounded in the series standard Specification for Quality‑capability Grading of Steel Products (T/CISA 008), the program will cultivate 2‑4 key product categories annually. For 2026‑2027, priority will be given to hot‑rolled ribbed bars and steel plates for ship and offshore engineering, followed successively by key products such as civil‑use bearing steel, stainless steel and welded steel pipes. CISA member enterprises may participate on a voluntary basis. Through procedures including submission of statements of intent, compilation of enterprise quality‑capability grading evaluation reports and collection of user feedback, enterprises rated Grade A and above (A+, A) are entitled to apply the dedicated CISA Quality‑capability Cultivation Mark on product quality certificates. CISA will also forward grading results to market users and relevant institutions to facilitate the establishment of a mechanism that rewards superior quality with premium prices.

Wang Tairan, Chief Expert in Quality‑management Digitalization at Tellus Certification of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, gave a report titled Accelerate the Implementation of the Manufacturing Excellence Quality Initiative to Drive High‑quality Development of the Steel Industry. He detailed progress and plans for the Manufacturing Excellence Quality Initiative, in particular the specific requirements for the five‑level evolution path “from experience‑based performance to operational excellence”.

Chen Hehai, Director of the National Key Laboratory for Iron Ore Testing at Ningbo Customs Technical Center, delivered the report International Standardization Empowers Import‑export Commodity Inspection and Testing. Drawing on practical international‑standardization experience, he illustrated the roles and pathways for standards to support import‑export inspection‑testing and boost international trade.

Cong Jinggong, General Manager of the Product Development Center of Angang Steel Co., Ltd., presented the report Typical Cases of Quality Improvement and Brand‑building under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Constructing the “Five‑force Brand Model” to Build Internationally‑competitive Industrial Brands. Based on Angang’s practices in quality improvement and brand development, he systematically shared experience in building the “Five‑force Brand Model”, with brand power as the core, product power and operational power as the foundation, and channel power and communication power as two supporting wings.