China's steel industry is expected to further green transformation in pursuit of sustainable and high-quality development despite challenges, experts and government officials said.

Liu Bingjiang, chief engineer of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stressed the importance of maintaining strategic focus and tenacity within the industry for advancing low-carbon transformation.

"Supported by digital and intelligent advancements, we are integrating green practices into the steel industry, persistently advancing high-quality development by safeguarding our ecological and environmental integrity," Liu said.

The steel industry has been playing a substantial role in enhancing China's air quality through a series of initiatives like supply-side structural reform, ultra-low emission transformation and vigorous energy efficiency enhancement programs.

"Yet, the industry continues to grapple with the arduous tasks of pollution reduction and carbon mitigation, with underlying structural issues yet to be fully addressed," he said.

"With just over a year remaining to finalize the ultra-low emission transformation of the steel industry, the goal for (more than) 80 percent of the country's crude steel production capacity to meet the transformation targets remains unchanged."

Currently, 43 percent of China's crude steel production capacity has completed full-process ultra-low emission transformation, and 39 percent has completed the transformation in key links, data from the ministry showed.

The steel industry's emissions have decreased by 60 percent, with emission performance reaching international leading levels, compared to 2018.

The average PM2.5 concentration in the 10 cities with top steel production capacities decreased by 24 percent in 2023 compared to 2018. Among them, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 31 percent and 30 percent over the period in Tangshan and Handan in Hebei province, respectively, which are the top two cities for crude steel production in China.

In addition, by the end of 2023, the profitability of steel enterprises that had completed the ultra-low emission transformation was 2.6 times that of other steel enterprises.

Ding Zhijun, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, highlighted the steel industry's significant contribution to the national economy and the promotion of new industrialization.

He said that accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel industry is essential for building a modern industrial system and promoting new industrialization.

Energy conservation and emission reductions are the only way forward for the high-quality development of the steel industry, he said.

Huang Dao, deputy chief engineer of the China Iron and Steel Association, highlighted the important role of policies in promoting the green, low-carbon and high-quality development of the steel industry.

The advancement of energy conservation and carbon reduction initiatives within China's steel industry should be meticulously aligned with policy mandates. It is essential to translate policy initiatives into tangible actions by the enterprises within the industry, he said.

Through the three key actions of ultra-low emission transformation, vigorous energy efficiency enhancement and digital transition, the industry should foster collaborative growth with partners in the green production ecosystem, thereby generating a stronger collective drive and impetus toward a green, low-carbon economy, he said.

They made the remarks at a forum on energy conservation and carbon emission reduction of the steel industry, which was held recently by the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute in Beijing.