On Nov. 19, the 18th Steel Industry Development Strategy Conference and 2023 Steel industry Chain Development Situation Summit Forum with the theme of "New changes, new patterns and new strategies" was held in Huizhou district of Huangshan city, Anhui province.

Wu Wenzhang, founder and chairman of Steelhome.com, Cheng Liqun, member of the Party Leadership Group of Huizhou District Government and deputy governor of Huizhou District Government, as well as relevant leaders of Shanghai Futures Exchange, Tianjin Youfa Steel Pipe Group, China Railway Materials Group, Shanghai Iron Man E-commerce Company and other joint organizers delivered speeches online and offline. Zhu Baoliang, chief economist of the State Information Center, chief researcher of the Economic Forecasting Department and expert on special allowances of The State Council, delivered a video speech, while Wang Fang, deputy Party secretary of Nangang and secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, delivered a keynote speech.

Wu Wenwen elaborated on the theme of the conference in his speech. The "new changes" are reflected in the fact that China's economic development is facing no great changes in a century. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has altered global supply and demand patterns for energy, food and some commodities. To comprehensively build a modern socialist country. The "new pattern" shows that the supply impact of steel raw fuel market is still severe; The rapid growth of investment in overseas steel production capacity may weaken the competitive advantage of China's steel industry in the international market. In the future, China's iron and steel industry will still be based on domestic demand, and the proportion of direct exports of iron and steel products will remain low. The "new strategy" is embodied in the implementation of energy conservation, environmental protection and low-carbon manufacturing, and comprehensively promoting green, low-carbon and high-quality development. We will accelerate joint restructuring and structural adjustment, increase industrial concentration, optimize industrial distribution and specialization, and increase market competitiveness. We will promote the application of smart manufacturing technologies such as informatization, digitalization and artificial intelligence to accurately meet the diverse and personalized needs of users.

Based on the discussion on the economic situation in the Party's twenty big reports, Zhu Baoliang analyzed the opportunities and challenges facing the domestic economy. He pointed out that the triple pressure of demand contraction, supply shock and weaker expectations has increased. Among them, insufficient demand is the main problem facing the domestic economy at present, which is reflected in the weakening of consumption willingness, the downturn in the real estate market, the pressure of slowing down the investment in the manufacturing industry, the decline in the growth of international trade and other aspects. China's economy is expected to grow at around 3.5 percent in 2022, with growth in the fourth quarter likely to reach around 5 percent, he said.

Wang Fang took Nangang as an example to introduce the practice of high quality development of digital enabling enterprises. She presented the development achievements of NANGang in recent years from multiple dimensions, such as "green Nangang", "cultural Nangang", "Wisdom" and "Science and Technology Nangang". Focusing on the process of digital transformation, Wang Fang introduced Nangang smart operation center, intelligent unmanned factory, digital twin factory, intelligent safety management system and other intelligent manufacturing application scenarios.

The conference is hosted by the Steelhouse website. Leaders, experts and scholars from relevant ministries and commissions of the state, industry associations, upstream and downstream enterprises of the steel industry chain, and financial investment institutions held discussions on topics such as macroeconomic situation, steel industry development strategy, steel and raw fuel market supply and demand situation and steel price operation trend, and e-commerce business of bulk commodities.

During the same period, a number of special forums were held, including the 5th China Special Steel Industry Summit, the 10th China Bulk Materials E-commerce Summit, and the 22nd Steel Enterprise Market Information Joint Conference. Also held the award ceremony of "the 13th National Steel Trade and logistics enterprises of one hundred integrity and brand suppliers" and "the Eighth China Bulk materials E-commerce Alliance of one hundred Enterprises".