the steel industry is providing solid support for fostering new quality productive forces by further clarifying the core role of artificial intelligence in promoting the high-end and green development of the sector.

Chinese authorities have issued a work plan to support the steady operation and structural upgrading of its steel industry, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Monday.

For the 2025 to 2026 period, China's steel industry should aim its value-added output growth at an average annual rate of around four percent, with improved economic performance, better balanced market supply and demand, and a more optimized industrial structure, the work plan says. It was jointly released by the MIIT and four other government organs.

CITIC Pacific Special Steel, a professional special steel manufacturing enterprise group owned by CITIC Group, has successfully reduced the average research and development cycle of new high-end special steel products by 56 percent thanks to an AI-assisted research and development system.

On the production line, an AI-powered visual inspection system scans steel surfaces at the millimeter level. It can identify material defects and automatically adjust process parameters based on feedback. A quality verification process that previously took 72 hours now takes just eight.

"When the blast furnaces become truly smart ones that can think, feel and make decisions on their own, the coal and raw materials used can be reduced. We can save 40 kilograms of standard coal in producing one ton of steel, and carbon emissions can be significantly reduced," said Wang Guodong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The deep integration of AI and cross-domain knowledge will drive the steel industry to evolve from single-point intelligence to full-process intelligence, and ultimately achieve a high-end, intelligent, and green industrial paradigm revolution.