A grand opening ceremony was held on Aug. 9 in Huadu District for the 2024 GBA Technology Exchange Con The Conference was attended by more than 400 top experts, university scholars, local government officials, and enterprise representatives, notably Academicians Gan Yong, Wang Guodong, Zhang Yue, Liu Zhengdong, Yue Qingrui, and Han Enhou from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President and Secretary-General of China Iron and Steel Association, Tian Zhiling, Executive Vice President of the Chinese Society for Metals, Qiu Xueqing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Guangdong University of Technology, Tian Guobing, Secretary of the Party Committee and Board Chair of Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Hua Xuchu, Member of the Leading Party Members Group of Guangdong Association for Science and Technology, and Li Xiaodong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Huadu District, Guangzhou, who gathered together to discuss, under the theme of "low-carbon metallurgy and green steel", cutting-edge issues in the steel field, and exchange information on advanced production technologies in different directions, trying to promote the green transformation and high-quality development of the steel industry and advanced metal materials.

Experts and scholars gathered to

Jointly open a new chapter of green and low-carbon development

At the opening ceremony, Wang Xinjiang, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Society for Metals, and the moderator of the ceremony read out a congratulation letter from Academician Yin Ruiyu of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In his letter, Mr. Yin highly praised the importance of the conference, and emphasized the need to promote the high-end, green and intelligent development of the steel industry through scientific and technological innovation, transforming more steel production capacity into new quality productive force.

Academician Gan Yong of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in his video speech that "the green upgrading of the iron and steel industry is a landmark in the practice to deeply integrate scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation", and that Guangdong University of Technology's establishment of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Low-carbon Metallurgical Engineering Innovation for innovative research in the industrial chain of low-carbon metallurgy and high-performance metal materials was an innovative step towards high-end, green and intelligent practice of the iron and steel industry.

Li Xiaodong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Huadu District, said in his address that every improvement of Huadu's manufacturing industry was impossible without the basic support of steel and other metal materials, and that it was hoped that all pioneers, researchers and entrepreneurs on the field of low-carbon metallurgy and advanced metal materials would work together to push start the new journey of green, low-carbon and high-quality development in the Greater Bay Area.

Hua Xuchu, Member of the Leading Party Members Group of Guangdong Association for Science and Technology, said in his speech that under the leadership of the China Association for Science and Technology and the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government of Guangdong, the Association had actively guided the majority of scientific and technological workers to actively participate in the construction of an international science and technology innovation center in the Greater Bay Area, and make positive contributions to the innovation and development of low-carbon metallurgy in the Greater Bay Area.

Tian Guobing, Secretary of the Party Committee and Board Chair of Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., said in his speech that as the main supplier of green steel products for advanced manufacturing clusters in the Greater Bay Area, Baosteel Zhanjiang had always treated the green and low-carbon approach as the lifeline of the enterprise, adhered to the green and low-carbon development path that put ecological first, and contributed valuable experience in promoting the green and low-carbon development of the industry and the region.

Qiu Xueqing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, President of Guangdong University of Technology and foreign associate of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, said in his speech that Guangdong University of Technology, as one of the key institutions of higher learning of Guangdong's high-level universities program, and with strong support of the provincial party committee, the provincial government, and superior competent authorities, was implementing in a deep-going way the "1+2+3" climbing and supporting plan for disciplinary improvement, and had achieved rapid development. Faced with the development needs of national green and low-carbon strategy and the huge opportunities coming with the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the University had in recent years adhered to the approach that uses"dual carbon" work as the leading force, gives full play to the advantageous disciplines as foundation, and strengthens the deep integration with industries, to build platform, gather strength, create mechanism and make contributions to the green and low-carbon development of the Greater Bay Area.

Tian Zhiling, Executive Vice President of the Chinese Society for Metals, said in his speech that to achieve the "dual carbon" goal demanded that we accelerate the pace of scientific and technological innovation, achieve self-reliance and self-improvement in core technologies, and make full use of hydrogen energy, digitalization, intelligence, and other emerging technologies to promote transformation in the metallurgical steel industry and the field of metal materials.

Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President and Secretary-General of China Iron and Steel Association, said in his speech that the steel industry was an important pillar industry of the national economy, that steel as an important basic material to promote Chinese-style modernization was an bearer of the historical responsibility of national rejuvenation, and that technical advance would remain a key to safeguarding the competitive edge of the nation's steel industry in the world.

Academician Wang Guodong of Chinese Academy of Engineering delivered via video an invited report on "Build Digital Twin Platform to Create New Steel Productivity", Academician Zhang Yue of the Chinese Academy of Sciences made an invited report on "Hydrogen Power for Low-carbon Development of the Iron and Steel Industry - Key Technologies and Equipment for Manufacturing with Green Hydrogen", and Academician Han Enhou of the Chinese Academy of Engineering also gave an invited report on "The Influence of Residual Alloying Elements in Recycled Steel on Corrosion Performance".

A number of experts, scholars and business representatives were invited to make special reports on the Conference, which covering various aspects from green catalytic materials and equipment, green and low-carbon development of China's iron and steel industry, and new low-carbon ironmaking technology, to green intelligent electric-arc furnace steelmaking, and low-carbon metallurgical technology development, presented a wonderful academic feast to the participants. The Conference also organized academician salon meetings, and sub-venue reports on hydrogen metallurgy, low-carbon electric furnaces and advanced green steel materials, where many experts and scholars from universities, research institutes and enterprises were invited to carry out in-depth exchanges and discussions, trying to concentrate the wisdom and strength of the steel industry and the field of advanced metal materials.

Steel + automobiles

Promote new and advantageous development of the industry

Located in the north of Guangzhou, Huadu District is the north most point of the Greater Bay Area, the geometric center of Guangdong, the home to the air-railway dual hub of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Guangzhou North Railway Station, and the northern growth pole that Guangzhou is striving to build. Taking scientific and technological innovation and industrial transformation as the main line, the District is now adhering to the simultaneous development of traditional industries on one hand, and emerging industries and future industries on the other, accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, and working in full swing to build a new industrial development pattern of "one district, one city, one port and one bay", to promote the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries, the development and growth of strategic emerging industries, and the accelerated growth of future industries.

Huadu District recorded a GDP 83.462 billion yuan from January to June 2024, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%. To be specific, the gross output value of above-scale enterprises in Huadu District was 108.714 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, and demonstrate great potential of subsequent development. In the first half of this year, Huadu continued to strengthen its efforts in investment promotion; taking projects worthy of at least 100-million yuan, there were 497 projects under negotiation (a year-on-year increase of 13.7%), and 106 newly signed projects (a year-on-year increase of 130%) as of the end of June.

“It is not only the huge development potential of Huadu, but also our intention to more closely integrate the steel industry in Guangdong Province with the automobile industry in Huadu that made us chose Huadu as the venue of this Conference." Mao Lingbo, Vice President of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Low-carbon Metallurgical Engineering Innovation at Guangdong University of Technology, pointed out that the development of the automobile industry, which was one of the pillar industries in Huadu District, required steel materials in great quantity and are demanding in steel quality; and this made it necessary for the steel industry and the automobile industry to collaborate and innovate and promote each other's development.

Now the steel industry and the field of metal materials are under great pressure for green and low-carbon development, scientific and technological innovation, and industrial upgrading. In terms of green finance, Huadu District, as the core area of a national green finance reform and innovation pilot zone, has ranked first in the national evaluation for four consecutive times, contributing its share to help Guangzhou lead in the development of green finance in the country. The trading volume and amount of carbon quota in the China Emissions Exchange Guangzhou ranked first among the pilot carbon markets.

Zhang Longqiang, President of the China Metallurgical Information and Standardization Institute, said that Guangdong needed more than 40 million tons steel a year, which meant huge potential for the steel industry. The entire steel industry is soon to be included in the "big plate" of the national carbon trading, and Guangdong's good foundation may secure it a leading place in the green and low-carbon development in the future. "Huadu has beautiful environment, good supporting services, and thank to the government, a good business environment. In the future, Huadu may be an active player in the deep processing and low-carbon fields of the steel industry, such as the development of environmental protection industries, the creation of zero-carbon or low-carbon steel demonstration bases, and the processing, manufacturing and application of downstream industries. We will be glad to be helpful to Huadu in the steel industry."

We also hope that Huadu will attract more eyeballs, better resources, stronger technologies, and high quality projects, so that new industries, new models and new growth energy may be born at the stimulation of new materials and new technologies, and new quality productive forces be formed at accelerated pace.