They made the remarks at a steel industry development forum, jointly held by the engineering management division of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute in Beijing.

Xia Nong, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission, said while churning crude steel output, top priority must be given to stabilizing industry development and seeking steady growth.

To that end, the nation must hold fast to market-oriented and law-based principles while strictly implementing laws and regulations regarding environmental protection, energy consumption, security and land use, he said.

Different situations should be treated differently to avoid thoughtless one-size-fit-all approaches to realize year-on-year decline of crude steel output, he added.

Li Xinchuang, chief engineer of the metallurgical institute, said the Chinese steel industry has been proactively seeking low-carbon transformation and greener development pathways, with major progress achieved in areas such as promotion and application of advanced energy conservation and low-carbon technologies, construction of intelligent management and control systems, recycling and utilization of steel scrap resources and optimization of the steelmaking process.

However, the green upgrade of the Chinese steel industry faces great challenges, such as the complexity of carbon emissions in steelmaking, the relatively short time span to realize carbon reduction goals, limited potential in further improving mature and feasible technologies and the increased cost to reduce emissions.

To better implement green and low-carbon development, the steel industry should further green transition, advance energy conservation and improve energy utilization efficiency, optimize energy consumption in the steelmaking process, build a circular economy-centered industrial chain, apply breakthrough low-carbon technologies and strengthen institutional and policy support, Li said.