By LIU ZHIHUA| 2022-05-19 09:41:20

Editor's note: China aims to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, major goals in a national green transition drive. This series looks at efforts in various sectors to meet the goals.Guo Xiaoyan, a publicity executive at Beijing Jianlong Heavy Industry Group Co, has found that an increasing part of her daily work centers on the buzz phrase "dual carbon goals", which refers to China's climate commitments.Since announcing that it would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, China has made substantial efforts to pursue greener development.The steel industry, a major carbon emitter and energy consumer in the manufacturing sector, has entered a new development era marked by technological innovation as well as intelligent and green manufacturing transformation, in an effort to advance energy conservation and reduce carbon emissions.Updating shareholders on the latest moves and achievements on carbon footprint reduction by Jianlong Group, one of China's largest private steel enterprises, has become an important part of Guo's job."As the company has done a lot of work amid the whole nation's pursuit of green and high-quality growth and seeks to make more contributions to the nation's realization of its dual carbon goals, it is my job to make the company's efforts better known by others," she said."In doing that, we also hope people in the industry and beyond will understand the importance of achieving the dual carbon goals and join hands together for the realization of the goals," she added.On March 10, Jianlong Group released its official road map for achieving a carbon peak by 2025 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The company plans to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2033, compared with 2025. It also aims to reduce average carbon intensity by 25 percent, compared with 2020.Jianlong Group also looks to become a world-class supplier of green and low-carbon products and services and a global provider and leader in green and low-carbon metallurgical technology. It said it will advance green and low-carbon development through pathways including enhanced steelmaking technology and processes to reduce carbon, and by strengthening applications of cutting-edge technological innovations and promoting green and low-carbon upgrades of its product portfolio.Increasing energy consumption efficiency and strengthening energy conservation, upgrading and digitalizing logistics solutions to reduce fossil fuel use, coordinating with downstream enterprises on energy and resource conservation, and promoting heat recycling will also be key methods for the company to achieve its carbon goals."Jianlong Group will continuously increase investment in scientific and technological innovation to establish a holistic system for science and technology research and development," said Zhang Zhixiang, chairman and president of the company."Through that, we aim to transform toward science and technology-driven development."The company has been making efforts to upgrade technologies and equipment, as well as intensify energy recycling and intelligent management.It has accelerated the use of highly efficient energy-saving facilities and equipment across its operations. Such equipment includes natural gas power generators and energy-saving water pumps.The company is also phasing out a number of motors or other devices that are energy-intensive.In the past three years, more than 100 energy conservation and environmental protection projects have been implemented by Jianlong Group's subsidiaries, with a total investment of more than 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).The company has also been actively carrying out research on the green development of the metallurgical industry, while promoting the research and application of new energy-saving and environmental protection technologies.With the application of intelligent technology for thermal control, the company's energy consumption rates have been lowered by 5 to 21 percent in some production links, such as heating furnaces and hot air furnaces.Subsidiaries of the group have also made use of marginal waste heat as a heating source.Experts and business leaders said that under the nation's green pledges, the steel industry faces huge pressure to make more efforts to shift toward green development.Thanks to concrete actions taken by enterprises across the industry, many achievements have been made in cutting carbon, although more efforts are needed to press ahead with the shift, they said.Li Xinchuang, chief engineer of the Beijing-based China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, said Chinese steel enterprises have already outperformed many key foreign players in waste gas emissions control."The ultra-low carbon emission standards implemented in China are also the strictest in the world," he said.Huang Dan, vice-president of Jianlong Group, said that China has rolled out a series of measures to accelerate carbon reduction and energy conservation in key industries including the steel sector, which demonstrates the nation's strong sense of responsibility and unfaltering pursuit of the building of an ecological civilization."Both academic and business communities have been actively studying new energy-saving and carbon emission reduction technologies, including recycling of waste heat and energy during steelmaking," Huang said."New breakthroughs are just around the corner to usher in a new round of improvements in the sector's energy efficiency," she added.As of late 2021, the comprehensive energy consumption needed to produce 1 metric ton of crude steel in China's key large and medium-sized steel enterprises had dropped to 545 kilograms of standard coal equivalent, a decrease of 4.7 percent from 2015, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.Sulfur dioxide emissions from producing 1 ton of steel were cut by 46 percent from the figure for 2015.The nation's top steel industry association set up a Steel Industry Low-Carbon Promotion Committee last year to lead efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Those efforts include developing carbon emission reduction technologies and standardizing criteria for related issues."Green and low-carbon development has become a universal mindset among China's steelmakers," said He Wenbo, executive chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association. "Some domestic players have led the world in using advanced pollution treatment facilities and reducing carbon emissions."

By ZHENG XIN| 2022-05-18 09:33:05

China's steel industry is expected to run smoothly for the rest of the year with demand growth outpacing production growth, and steel demand to further increase thanks to policy support, according to authorities.The steel industry remained stable in China with consistent supply and steady prices during the first quarter of this year, despite the complicated conditions. The steel industry is expected to achieve better performance as the overall Chinese economy expands and policy measures ensuring stable growth take better effect, said Qu Xiuli, deputy chairwoman of the China Iron and Steel Association.According to Qu, domestic steel enterprises have adjusted their variety structure following changes in market demand and achieved stable supply prices during the first few months of this year.The industry has also achieved a balance between supply and demand during the first three months, and the profitability of steel enterprises has improved and shown month-on-month growth. The industry will continue promoting steady and sustainable development of industrial chains in the days to come, she said.The country's steel production has been running low this year. China has produced 243 million tons of steel during the first three months, down 10.5 percent year-on-year, the association said.According to Shi Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the association, the pent-up demand seen during the early days will not disappear and the total demand will gradually improve.The association expects steel consumption during the latter half of the year will not be lower than the second half of 2021 and the total steel consumption this year will be about the same as the previous year.Li Xinchuang, chief engineer of the Beijing-based China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, expects that consumption-driven new steel infrastructure construction this year will be around 10 million tons, which will be playing a significant role in the steady steel demand.The volatile international commodity market has imposed negative impacts on the steel industry this year. While China's iron ore price index by the end of March reached $158.39 per ton, up 33.2 percent compared with the beginning of this year, the price of imported iron ore continues to fall.Lu Zhaoming, deputy secretary-general of the association, said the government has attached great significance to ensuring the country's steel industry resources with several policies, including the cornerstone plan, which emphasizes the acceleration of domestic iron ore development.As China relies heavily on imported iron ore, it is necessary to implement the cornerstone plan, which is expected to resolve the shortage issues in steelmaking ingredients by raising its equity output of iron ore in overseas mines to 220 million tons by 2025 and increasing domestic raw material supplies.China plans to raise the share of overseas iron ore production from 120 million tons in 2020 to 220 million tons by 2025, while it also aims to boost domestic output by 100 million tons to 370 million tons and steel scrap consumption by 70 million tons to 300 million tons.An analyst stated that domestic enterprises have also been upgrading their product portfolios to better meet high-end demand with continuous efforts on low-carbon development to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption and carbon footprint.Wang Guoqing, director of the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center, said the effective implementation of domestic iron ore development plans will help boost domestic mine output while further improving the country's iron ore self-sufficiency rate.The China Iron and Steel Association's cornerstone plan will also further ensure domestic energy security.Figures from the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center reveal that domestic investment in iron ore development has increased significantly since 2021. The country saw its investment in iron ore rise 26.9 percent year-on-year in 2021.

By Xinhua| 2022-05-17 13:24:55

SHANGHAI - A China-made very large ethane carrier (VLEC) with a capacity of 99,000 cubic meters was delivered in Shanghai on Monday, its manufacturer said.The VLEC was manufactured by Jiangnan Shipyard under the China State Shipbuilding Co Ltd. It is part of the Panda series of Jiangnan, featuring a length of 230 meters, a width of 36.6 meters, and a draft of 22.5 meters.Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard started resuming operations in late April, promoting workers returning and ensuring the timely delivery of its ship products amid COVID-19.The VLEC was the first ship delivered by the Changxing shipbuilding base amid the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in Shanghai. It signified a significant achievement of the city's efforts to advance the resumption of work and production on the premise of effective epidemic containment, said Li Zheng, Party chief of Shanghai's Chongming district.

By ZHONG NAN| 2022-05-13 10:33:13

China will continue higher-level opening-up to further improve services for foreign companies, so that they can grow and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic impact, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to the global economy, particularly to industrial and supply chains, the Chinese economy's fundamentals remain unchanged, thanks to its strong resilience, great potential, broad room for maneuver and sound long-term growth prospects, said Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the ministry.Shu said 185 new contracts entailing foreign direct investment or FDI of over $100 million each were signed in China in the first four months of this year, which is equivalent to an average of 1.5 major foreign investment projects being launched every day across the country.Big-ticket projects invested by Germany's Volkswagen Group, South Korean steelmaker Posco and the US retail giant Costco have been implemented well in China, forming strong impetus to rapid FDI growth.China's actual use of foreign capital surged by 20.5 percent on a yearly basis to 478.61 billion yuan ($74.47 billion) in the first four months of this year, said the ministry.FDI flows into the services sector reached 351.94 billion yuan between January and April, up 12.5 percent year-on-year. The growth rates for high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services were 36.7 percent and 48.3 percent, respectively.FDI flows into China's eastern region surged 18.7 percent year-on-year in the first four months, while they grew by 43.7 percent and 26.9 percent in the nation's central and western regions, respectively.Tapestry Group, which owns a number of US fashion brands, including Coach and Kate Spade, opened its travel retail headquarters for China at the Hainan Free Trade Port in Haikou, Hainan province, last month."With the ongoing development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the Hainan market continues to unleash vigorous growth momentum. This has attracted our interest and encouraged us to invest more in this fast-growing market," said Yann Bozec, president for Asia-Pacific of Tapestry.Nicolas Poirot, president and CEO for China unit of Air Liquide Group, a French industrial and medical gas supplier operating 120 plants across China, said the country has been one of the group's top three markets for a number of years－and it continues to gain in significance. China, he said, will continue to lead the world's manufacturing sector, especially in industries like steel, chemicals, smartphones and automotives.He said Air Liquide will continue to increase investment in hydrogen energy, production centers for basic electronic material, low-carbon technology applications, high-end manufacturing and research activities in China during the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.As US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday his administration is evaluating whether to cut existing tariffs on Chinese goods imposed during the Trump administration, Shu, from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said that under the current high inflation, the removal of additional US tariffs on Chinese goods will serve the interests of US consumers and businesses, and benefit both countries as well as the rest of the world.Currently, the economic and trade teams of the two sides are maintaining normal communication, she noted.

By ZHU WENQIAN and ZHONG NAN| 2022-05-12 09:31:41

China has freed up the coastal piggyback system for shipping of foreign trade containers between ports within China, enabling foreign logistics giants such as A.P.Moller-Maersk and Orient Overseas Container Line to plan first voyages by the end of this month, analysts said on Monday.The move highlights China's willingness to further its opening-up policy, they said.Meanwhile, the administrative committee of Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone said at a news conference on Monday that China will introduce a container freight forward rate contract trading platform.Despite a complex international situation and given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Shanghai has encouraged enterprises to resume production, and the business in the bonded zone has operated smoothly in the first quarter, the committee said."The new service (for shipping of foreign trade containers between ports within China) is expected to help cut the logistics costs for both exporters and importers, improve the utilization rates of container ships, and relieve the tightness of shipping capacity to a certain extent," said Zhou Zhicheng, a researcher at the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.Jens Eskelund, China chief representative of Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, said the permission for foreign carriers to carry out international relay is very welcome news and represents a tangible step for foreign carriers in China toward achieving market access on reciprocal terms."International relay will allow us to improve services, giving our customers more flexibility and options for their shipments. We are preparing the first shipment in Yangshan terminal in Shanghai, together with the Lin-gang Special Area Administration and other relevant stakeholders," Eskelund said.Hong Kong-based Asia Shipping Certification Services Co Ltd has been officially approved to carry out statutory ship inspection work in the Lin-gang Special Area as the first inspection agency that is not incorporated in the Chinese mainland.In March and April, the daily average container throughput in Yangshan terminal reached 66,000 and 59,000 twenty-foot equivalent units or TEUs, each accounting for 90 percent and 85 percent, respectively, of the average level seen in the first quarter."Despite the recent resurgence of local COVID-19 cases, operations at ports have been relatively stable. With more companies resuming their business in late April, operations are foreseen to improve further this month," said Lin Yisong, an official of the Lin-gang Special Area Administration.As of Sunday, 193 companies operating in the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone, or 85 percent of the total, had resumed operations. About half of total employees who work in the bonded zone arrived at their workplaces physically."The coastal piggyback system will help boost logistics capacity, improve efficiency and provide more business opportunities for global companies to further expand their market presence in China," said Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation."The move is more advanced than the coastal transportation policies being practiced in some countries. Major economies such as the United States and Japan have not opened up coastal transportation for global shipping firms yet," Bai said.China's total imports and exports of goods expanded 1.9 percent year-on-year to a record 32.16 trillion yuan ($4.77 trillion) last year, despite a worldwide slump in shipments due to the pandemic.

By Sun Shuwen Kong Lingwen Zhao Yut| 2022-05-11 09:36:44

The General Administration of Customs announced today that in the first four months of this year, the total value of my country's foreign trade imports and exports was 12.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. Among them, exports were 6.97 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; imports were 5.61 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%.Li Kuiwen, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs: Under the increasingly complex and severe external environment faced by my country's foreign trade development, my country's foreign trade import and export continued to grow in the first four months, and the number of foreign trade enterprises with import and export performance increased by 4.7% year-on-year. This fully reflects the characteristics of my country's economy with strong resilience, sufficient potential, wide room for maneuver, and long-term positive fundamentals that will not change. my country's goal of maintaining stability and improving foreign trade throughout the year is still well supported.Customs statistics show that my country's foreign trade structure continued to be optimized in the first four months, with general trade imports and exports reaching 8.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.2% year-on-year. my country's imports and exports to ASEAN, the European Union, the United States and South Korea were 1.84 trillion yuan, 1.73 trillion yuan, 1.56 trillion yuan and 764.92 billion yuan respectively, up 7.2%, 6.8%, 8.7% and 8.4% year-on-year. ASEAN continues to be my country's largest trading partner, accounting for 14.6% of my country's total foreign trade.During the same period, the total import and export between my country and the countries along the “Belt and Road” reached 3.97 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.4%. The total import and export of my country and the other 14 member countries of RCEP was 3.84 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.Li Kuiwen, Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs: The continuous optimization of the international market layout with close regional cooperation and diversified trade can not only improve the vitality and potential of my country's foreign trade, but also promote my country and the countries along the "Belt and Road" and RCEP member countries. The bilateral trade continued to grow, and the growth rate of my country’s imports and exports with countries along the “Belt and Road” in the first four months was 7.5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

By China Daily| 2022-05-10 09:37:10

China's investment in the secondary industry grew by 16.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, significantly higher than the 6.8 percent investment growth in the primary industry and 6.4 percent investment growth in the tertiary industry.In contrast steel and cement production, which has been closely linked to investment in the secondary industry, fell year-on-year, triggering doubts about the authenticity of China's economic development story. However, such a mismatch actually reflects the profound changes China's economic structure is undergoing.In the past, China's industrial investment was mainly concentrated in the heavy and chemical industries, given the huge demand for steel and cement. Whenever the investment in the secondary industry increased, steel and cement output would increase, and vice versa.However, ever since China's economy entered the stage of high-quality development, the investment has shifted toward the high-tech and equipment manufacturing sector, which has lesser demand for steel and cement. That explains the lack of synchrony in the growth rate of the secondary industry and steel and cement production.As China's economy shifts from extensive growth based on scale and speed to intensive growth based on quality and efficiency, the correlation between many economic indicators has changed. Therefore, we cannot continue to view and analyze problems using old concepts.In the past, changes in electricity consumption, railway freight volume and medium- and long-term loans of banks were regarded as an important barometer to observe economic trends. However, with the optimization and upgrading of China's economic structure, energy demand in the industry and service sector, and the proportion of railway freight volume in the total social logistics volume are also changing. As a result, the relationship between these indicators and the overall economic situation will naturally undergo change. If the changes of individual economic indicators alone are used to judge the overall economy, we may draw wrong conclusions.Only by deeply clarifying the connotation of various economic indicators and exploring the link between various economic variables, can we make more comprehensive, scientific and rational analysis of China's economy, and draw more scientific and accurate conclusions about its high-quality development.

By Xinhua| 2022-05-09 10:01:26

BEIJING -- China's e-commerce logistics sector recorded a slower contraction in April compared to March, according to an industry survey jointly conducted by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and e-commerce giant JD.com.The survey showed that the index tracking e-commerce logistics activities stood at 102.2 points in April, down 1.8 points from the previous month.The decline shrank from that registered in March as government policies to smooth logistics alleviated the effects of COVID-19, however demand is yet to recover, according to the survey.The sub-index for business volume dropped 5.8 points from the previous month to 112.4 points.The sub-index for business costs rose 0.8 points in April, nearing the latest peak in 2016, the survey showed.

By Xinhua| 2022-05-07 09:41:12

BEIJING - China's real estate developers borrowed more money from banks in the first quarter of 2022, data from the central bank showed on Friday.New loans to Chinese property developers totaled 290 billion yuan ($43.72 billion) in the first three months of the year, reversing the decrease seen in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to data from the People's Bank of China.Outstanding property development loans stood at 12.56 trillion yuan by the end of March, the data showed.Outstanding personal housing loans had grown 8.9 percent year-on-year to 38.84 trillion yuan by the end of March, a 2.3-percentage-point decrease in growth rate from the end of December, the central bank said.Friday's data also showed that outstanding RMB property loans rose 6 percent year-on-year to 53.22 trillion yuan by the end of first quarter of this year.China's central and local authorities are fine-tuning housing policies to seek a balance between defusing risks and spurring demand, amid efforts to boost the steady and sound development of the property market.While reiterating that "housing is for living in, not for speculation", a key meeting held last week by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee called for efforts to improve real estate policies based on local realities. It urged support for work to meet the demand of both first-time home buyers and home upgraders, and for work to optimize regulations governing commercial housing prepayments.

By Xinhua| 2022-05-06 10:00:23

BEIJING -- China saw the added value of its building materials sector rise at a steady pace of 1.6 percent year-on-year during the first quarter, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.In March, the added value of the industry climbed 2.1 percent from a year earlier.China's cement output reached 387 million tons, down 12.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. In March, the cement output fell 5.6 percent year-on-year to 187 million tons.The output of flat glass rose 2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter and 2.2 percent in March, the ministry's data showed.