The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a press conference on stabilizing growth in the raw materials industry today. Chang Guowu, Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xing Tao, Deputy Director, Cao Chuanzhen, Deputy Director of the Industry Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Xiao Lu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce attended the press conference to introduce the work plan for stabilizing growth in four key raw materials industries, including petrochemicals, steel, non-ferrous metals, and building materials, and answered questions from reporters. The press conference was hosted by Cheng Xiaoming, a first-level inspector (director-level) of the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.



Cheng Xiaoming: Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to the series of press conferences on stabilizing growth in the industry. Today is the second press conference in the series, with the theme of maintaining stable growth in the raw materials industry. In order to implement a series of decisions and arrangements made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council on stabilizing growth, promote the stable operation of the raw materials industry, and accelerate high-quality development, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with 11 departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, has recently studied and formulated a work plan for stabilizing growth in the four industries of petrochemicals, steel, non-ferrous metals, and building materials, which has been officially released to the public today.

Attending today's press conference are: Mr. Chang Guowu, Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Mr. Xing Tao, Deputy Director, Mr. Cao Chuanzhen, Deputy Director of the Industry Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Ms. Xiao Lu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, to introduce the relevant situation of the four stable growth work plans and answer questions of concern. I am the host of this press conference, Cheng Xiaoming from the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

First, please let Director Chang Guowu introduce the overall situation of the work plan.

Chang Guowu: Thank you, host! Thank you to all the media friends who attended today's press conference. I am very happy to share with you the stable growth work plans of the four key raw materials industries, including petrochemicals, steel, non-ferrous metals, and building materials.

The raw materials industry is the foundation of the real economy, the basic industry and pillar industry of the national economy, and its added value accounts for nearly 30% of the above-scale industries. It is an important area for economic stability and growth.

From January to July this year, the raw materials industry as a whole showed a trend of continuous recovery and structural optimization. First, the industry's growth rate has accelerated steadily. The added value of the raw materials industry increased by 5.2% year-on-year, of which July increased by 7.7% year-on-year, 2 percentage points faster than the previous month. Second, the product structure continues to be optimized. New materials account for more than 15% of the raw materials industry, and the operating income of green building materials has increased by more than 20% year-on-year. New economic growth points are accelerating. Third, investment maintains a high growth rate. Investment in chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing and non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industries increased by 13.7% and 10.2% year-on-year, respectively, far higher than the national fixed asset investment growth rate. Fourth, green development has achieved remarkable results. The unit clinker energy consumption of cement products has decreased by 3% compared with the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan", and the unit carbon emission of electrolytic aluminum products has decreased by 3.3%. 330 million tons of crude steel production capacity has completed full-process ultra-low emission transformation, and 460 million tons have completed key transformations such as desulfurization and denitrification, with the cumulative transformation capacity accounting for as high as 76%.

While seeing the achievements, we must also be aware that the current pressure on the raw materials industry to maintain stable growth is still relatively large. From the outside of the industry, the global economic growth rate continues to slow down, domestic demand is still insufficient, and resource and environmental pressures are increasing; from the industry itself, the problem of oversupply of traditional products still exists, the independent innovation capability is still weak, and the task of transformation and upgrading is arduous.

In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on stabilizing growth, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments, has formulated four work plans for stabilizing growth in key raw material industries. The general idea is to take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guidance, fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, adhere to the general tone of work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, coordinate development and security, coordinate the expansion of domestic demand and the deepening of supply-side structural reform, coordinate the two markets and two resources at home and abroad, strive to create a fair competition market environment, and constantly stimulate the vitality of market entities; focus on consolidating the results of capacity reduction and maintaining a dynamic balance between supply and demand; focus on expanding effective supply and actively expanding the application market; focus on accelerating technological transformation and promoting green and intelligent transformation; focus on deepening open cooperation and promoting a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win, strive to achieve effective improvement in quality and reasonable growth in quantity, and provide strong support for the stable and healthy development of the national economy.

In the next step, we will work with relevant departments and industry organizations to strengthen work coordination, strengthen service guidance, and effectively organize and implement the work plan. I believe that with the gradual emergence of the effects of a series of national macroeconomic control policies, with the joint efforts of all parties, the raw material industry will surely be able to achieve the expected goal of stabilizing growth.

I will briefly introduce it here, thank you!

China Chemical Industry News: What are the characteristics of the operation of the petrochemical industry in the first half of the year? What measures will be taken to promote the stable economic growth of the petrochemical industry?

Xing Tao: Thank you for your question.

In 2022, the added value of the petrochemical industry accounted for 14.7% of the industry and about 4.9% of the GDP. The stable growth of the industry is of great significance to ensuring the security of the industrial chain and supply chain and the stable operation of the industrial economy.

Since the beginning of this year, the petrochemical industry has fully implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and strived to stabilize production, optimize structure, and promote transformation. New production capacity of bulk products such as ethylene, propylene, and paraxylene has been put into production one after another, and the development potential of new chemical materials and fine chemicals has been continuously released, achieving three "increases" in output, added value, and investment. First, the output has grown steadily. From January to July, the cumulative crude oil processing volume reached 430 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%; 9 of the 11 major petrochemical products such as ethylene under key monitoring had a year-on-year increase in output. Second, the added value has grown steadily. From January to July, the added value of the industry increased by 6.3% year-on-year, 2.5 percentage points higher than the industrial average, accounting for about 15% of the national industry. Third, investment continued to grow significantly. In the first half of the year, investment in the chemical manufacturing sector grew by 13.9%, 5 percentage points higher than the national industrial investment growth rate.

However, it should also be noted that the industry's medium- and long-term contradictions and periodic problems are superimposed, some operating indicators have weakened, and the growth momentum has slowed down. The stable recovery of both supply and demand still faces many challenges. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and other seven departments, compiled the "Petrochemical and Chemical Industry Stable Growth Work Plan", focusing on the "14th Five-Year Plan" high-quality development guidance opinions and carbon peak implementation plan goals and tasks of the petrochemical and chemical industry, systematically planning two-year stable growth measures, adhering to problem-oriented, based on the current solution to problems such as sluggish demand and tightening factors, and proposed 11 specific measures from five aspects, including promoting investment, optimizing supply, stabilizing foreign trade, ensuring production, and strengthening enterprises.

First, promote investment. Accelerate the demonstration and implementation of major petrochemical and modern coal chemical projects. Promote energy-saving, pollution-reduction and carbon-reduction transformation and comprehensive technical transformation of old equipment, and carry out demonstrations of non-grain bio-based materials industrialization. Accelerate the construction of smart factories and characteristic industrial Internet platforms, and cultivate solution providers. Standardize the construction of chemical parks, carry out park expansion in an orderly manner, and cultivate parks with competitive advantages. Second, optimize supply. Build a supply and demand platform, carry out brand promotion week and other activities, promote the increase of varieties, improve quality and create brands. Build a pilot platform, strengthen the upstream and downstream cooperation mechanism, carry out "one-stop" application demonstration, jointly explore application scenarios, create an industrial development ecology, and promote the industry to strengthen the foundation, supplement the chain, extend the chain and stabilize the chain. Third, stabilize foreign trade. Promote the technical transformation of terminals with large chemical trade volumes, strengthen the guarantee of major foreign-funded petrochemical projects, and promote higher-level opening and cooperation. Fourth, ensure production. Refine and implement the policy that raw material energy consumption is not included in the total energy consumption and intensity control, strengthen the supply guarantee of coal and gas for key products such as fertilizers, and ensure smooth production. Fifth, strengthen enterprises. Guide leading enterprises as "chain leaders" to strengthen the organization of technological innovation and platform service functions, fully gather and give play to the collaborative innovation role of specialized and new small and medium-sized enterprises, stimulate the innovation vitality of various enterprises, deepen integrated development, and jointly strengthen the market entities that stabilize growth.

That's all I have to introduce, thank you!

China National Radio Voice of China reporter: What has the National Development and Reform Commission done in recent years to stabilize the growth of the steel industry, and in what areas will it increase its efforts in the future?

Cao Chuanzhen: Thank you for your question.

The steel industry is an important basic raw material industry of the national economy. It has a large investment-driven role, strong employment absorption capacity, and high industrial correlation. It has made important contributions to my country's economic and social development. Its stable operation is crucial to the stable growth of the national economy. In recent years, the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have consistently implemented the top-level design of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on the development of the steel industry, vigorously promoted the supply-side structural reform of the steel industry, strengthened the supply guarantee of mineral resources, and accelerated the green and low-carbon transformation and high-quality development of the industry. Positive results have been achieved, and the operation of the steel industry has remained stable overall.

But at the same time, we must also see that the steel industry is facing a new development environment, the demand for steel has fallen, and steel enterprises are facing some difficulties in production and operation. Changes in the external situation will cause fluctuations in industry growth, but also provide important windows and opportunities for industrial upgrading. In the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission will focus on continuing to promote the high-quality development of the steel industry from the following aspects.

(I) Actively promote the development of domestic mineral resources. The National Development and Reform Commission will continue to play a good role in the domestic iron ore development coordination mechanism, encourage and support the construction of mineral resource development bases and mining projects, make every effort to coordinate and promote the resolution of problems and difficulties encountered, actively promote the commissioning of projects under construction, the expansion of production projects, and the start of construction of new projects, accelerate the release of domestic resource development potential, and add a batch of domestic mineral resource supply capacity.

(II) Continue to improve industrial concentration. The National Development and Reform Commission will adhere to the principles of marketization and rule of law, and implement relevant laws and standards such as environmental protection, energy conservation and carbon reduction on the premise of respecting the main position of enterprises and ensuring the independent decision-making of enterprises, accelerate the pace of mergers and reorganizations in the steel industry, and create a number of professional leading enterprises with obvious product advantages and strong self-development capabilities.

(III) Solidly promote green and low-carbon transformation. The National Development and Reform Commission will strictly manage projects in accordance with relevant policy requirements such as industry, environment, and energy efficiency. Strictly compare energy efficiency standards, etc., and orderly promote enterprises to implement green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading. Further focus on the key links of the steel industry, strengthen technological breakthroughs, build a green and low-carbon technology system, guide enterprises to accelerate the replacement of advanced energy-saving technology and equipment, promote the demonstration and application of key energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies, and further improve the green manufacturing level of the steel industry.

That's all I have to say. Thank you!

Shanghai Securities News reporter: In recent years, the non-ferrous metals industry has achieved relatively impressive results. In 2022, the industry's operating income exceeded 8 trillion yuan for the first time. However, since the beginning of this year, the non-ferrous metals industry has faced many problems and challenges. What targeted measures will be taken in the non-ferrous metals industry's stable growth plan to promote the stable growth of the non-ferrous metals industry?

Chang Guowu: Thank you for your question.

Non-ferrous metals have outstanding strategic value and a wide range of applications. They are not only the basic materials supporting the development of industries such as construction, machinery, and home appliances, but also the key materials to enhance the competitiveness of emerging industries such as new energy and new generation information technology. The development prospects are very broad. In recent years, the non-ferrous metals industry has shown a sustained positive development trend, and has achieved remarkable results in structural adjustment, green transformation, and innovative development, making positive contributions to the stable growth of my country's economy. From January to July this year, the industrial added value of the nonferrous metals industry increased by 5.9% year-on-year, 2.1 percentage points higher than the industrial average; the output of ten nonferrous metals was 42.32 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 7%. However, in the process of development, there are still problems such as insufficient growth momentum in the traditional consumption field, reduced exports, and high external dependence on some strategic minerals and high-end materials.

In the next step, we will put stable growth in a more prominent position and work hard to improve supply capacity, promote effective investment, and expand consumption scale. First, strengthen the supply guarantee of important resources. Formulate an implementation plan to promote the development of resource industries such as lithium, guide key regions to formulate resource industry plans and lists of resource development projects, strengthen factor guarantees and expectation guidance, build upstream and downstream supply and demand docking platforms, and prevent large price fluctuations. Second, support the research and development and application of key materials. Facing key areas such as aerospace, rail transit, and medical equipment, support high-end material research and development, encourage local governments to build pilot platforms based on the characteristics of local industries, promote the application of new materials and new process results, and strengthen the layout of cutting-edge material research and development. Third, increase the intensity of technological transformation. Support enterprises to carry out energy-saving and carbon reduction, intelligent manufacturing and other process technology equipment transformation and upgrading, accelerate the construction of green and low-carbon public service platforms, create a number of benchmark enterprises, and promote the intelligent and green development of the industry. Fourth, actively expand the downstream market. Focusing on the demand for consumption upgrades such as housing improvement, urban infrastructure, and food packaging, we will promote the steady growth of consumption of bulk non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminum by creating model projects, reducing production costs, and holding large-scale exhibitions. Focusing on emerging fields such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaics, we will strengthen upstream and downstream docking, continuously improve product standards and specifications, and accelerate the development and promotion of integrated die-casting body, magnesium alloy wheels, high-quality polysilicon and other products.

That's all I'll introduce, thank you!

Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine reporter: The building materials industry is an important basic industry of the national economy and an important area related to the stable operation of the industrial economy. What measures does the "Plan" propose to solve the problems encountered in the current economic operation?

Xing Tao: Thank you for your question.

The building materials industry is an important area for the stable operation of the industrial economy. From January to July this year, the added value accounted for 4.6% of the industry and about 1.6% of the GDP. In the first half of this year, the overall growth rate of the building materials industry showed a slowing trend, with added value lower than that of industry and manufacturing, and operating income and profits declined. The industry faces great pressure to maintain stable growth. The current slowdown in the growth of the building materials industry is due to both insufficient downstream demand and insufficient industrial structure adjustment. At present, the growth of the building materials industry still mainly relies on traditional industries such as cement. The operating income of cement and cement products accounts for nearly 40% of the revenue of the building materials industry, and the proportion of emerging industries such as inorganic non-metallic new materials is still relatively low. With the change of development mode and the upgrading of demand structure, the building materials industry has entered a new development stage with green and low-carbon as the main characteristics. The demand for traditional building materials such as cement has shown a steady and slow decline. Emerging building materials industries such as green building materials, mineral functional materials, and inorganic non-metallic new materials have accelerated development. This is an inevitable trend of industrial structural adjustment.

We should also see that the building materials industry has also shown many highlights and growth points in its development and operation in the first half of the year. First, the industry has steadily recovered. The added value of the industry has reversed the downward trend in 2022 and has generally resumed the growth trend. The import and export volume of building materials commodities is US$42.05 billion, an increase of 13.3% year-on-year. Second, the industrial structure continues to be optimized. Technical glass product manufacturing, glass fiber reinforced plastic product manufacturing, waterproof building material manufacturing, lightweight building material manufacturing, etc. have maintained a good growth trend, and profits have increased year-on-year.