The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Market Regulation have jointly issued the "Steel Industry Stable Growth Work Plan (2025-2026)". The plan sets out the main objectives for the stable growth of the steel industry from 2025 to 2026: stabilizing and improving economic returns, achieving a better balance between market supply and demand, optimizing the industrial structure, continuously enhancing effective supply capacity, and significantly improving green, low-carbon and digital development levels. The plan proposes ten initiatives in five aspects to promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the steel industry. Specifically, the added value of the steel industry is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 4% from 2025 to 2026. In terms of expanding consumer demand and stimulating market potential, the plan calls for tapping into the demand for steel applications. It will deepen upstream and downstream cooperation between steel and other key steel-using sectors such as shipbuilding, sign long-term stable cooperation agreements, and jointly maintain the stability of the industrial chain. It will actively promote the application of steel structures in residential buildings, public buildings, and small and medium-span bridges, and support industry associations in building a whole-industry-chain cooperation mechanism among upstream and downstream enterprises such as steel production, steel structure processing, component manufacturing, architectural design, construction, and installation and decoration. It will encourage qualified regions to cultivate a batch of steel-structure-building industrial parks and digital supply-chain trading and service platforms for steel, components, and parts.

In terms of deepening opening-up and cooperation and improving the level of international development, the plan calls for promoting international development. It will implement the requirements of the "Announcement on Matters Concerning the Optimization of Services and Standardized Management for the Export of Goods Subject to Domestic Taxes". It will strengthen the export management of steel products and maintain the order of export competition. It will carry out work to define high-tech steel products and optimize the structure of steel exports. It will promote the formation of mutually recognized product standards and carbon footprint accounting systems. It will support enterprises to follow international trade rules, carry out international trade in steel products in accordance with laws and regulations, integrate into the international supply-chain system, and enhance international competitiveness. It will strengthen industrial cooperation with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, and guide steel products to go global together with equipment, technology, and services.