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The symposium on promoting joint restructuring and improving the exit mechanism in the steel industry proposed: unify ideas, make systematic plans, create conditions and guide exit. 

In order to study and implement the spirit of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on July 30 this year, which was put forward to "strengthen the market survival of the fittest mechanism and smooth the exit channels of backward and inefficient production capacity", the China Iron and Steel Association organized a "Symposium on Promoting Joint Restructuring and Improving the Exit Mechanism in the Steel Industry" on October 9. The meeting reached a consensus on accelerating the promotion of joint restructuring and improving the exit mechanism, laying a good foundation for the next step of forming policy recommendations on promoting joint restructuring and opening up the exit channels of backward production capacity in the steel industry. 27 heads of steel companies and industry institutions attended the meeting for exchanges. Jiang Wei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, vice president and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, attended the meeting and made a summary speech. Xia Nong, Tang Zujun, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Association, and Wang Yingsheng, chief economist, responded to the opinions and suggestions of enterprises on the spot. The meeting was chaired by Xia Nong.

At the meeting, the Planning and Development Department of the China Iron and Steel Association first introduced the relevant work background; the participating units fully exchanged views on the progress, experience, obstacles and policy recommendations for promoting joint restructuring, the main difficulties and problems of steel production capacity exiting the market, working mechanisms and opinions and suggestions. Su Changyong, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association and Director of the General Affairs Department (Finance and Assets Department) and the International Cooperation Department, Chen Yuqian, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association and Director of the Industrial Operation Department, Feng Chao, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association and Director of the Science, Technology and Environmental Protection Department, Zhang Longqiang, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Metallurgical Industry Information and Standards Research Institute, Fan Tiejun, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Iron and Steel Association, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of China Metallurgical News, Li Yongjun, Chief Analyst of the China Iron and Steel Association, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Metallurgical Industry Economic Development Research Center, Xiao Bangguo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President (in charge of work) of the Metallurgical Industry Planning Institute, as well as responsible persons from the Information and Statistics Department, Market Research Department, and Planning and Development Department of the China Iron and Steel Association attended the meeting.

The delegates agreed that it is very necessary and timely to hold this meeting under the current operating situation of the industry. Joint reorganization and capacity management are two important basic measures for the steel industry to optimize the operating order and improve the development environment. The two complement each other, guide the survival of the fittest, and guide the balance of supply and demand. At present, joint reorganization and the exit channel of backward production capacity both require policy support, and the industry urgently needs in-depth research and policy recommendations.

The delegates proposed that in terms of joint reorganization, it is recommended to accelerate the construction of a unified national market, effectively break down the barriers and obstacles that affect the optimal allocation of resource elements in reorganized enterprises, encourage and guide powerful large enterprises to take the lead in joint reorganization, treat state-owned and private enterprises equally, promote cross-ownership joint reorganization, provide policy support for the reorganization of listed companies, carry out regional group warming reorganization, formulate differentiated financial support policies, and prevent mergers and reorganizations from leading to "zombie capacity" and the inability to effectively clear out backward capacity, so that joint reorganization is beneficial to employees, enterprises, and the country. In terms of capacity withdrawal, it is recommended to conduct a survey of the actual equipment level of each steel enterprise and cancel the market-based transaction of steel capacity indicators; establish a steel industry structural adjustment fund at the national level to accelerate the orderly and thorough withdrawal of backward capacity; accelerate the introduction of carbon constraints and use the total carbon emissions to regulate the capacity and output of enterprises; reasonably plan the layout of the special steel industry to avoid homogeneous competition and achieve differentiated development; relevant government departments strengthen coordination and cooperation to comprehensively guarantee and promote the smooth development of overseas mergers and acquisitions of enterprises, etc.

After in-depth discussions, the meeting pointed out that, first, we must unify our thoughts on the necessity and feasibility of promoting joint restructuring and capacity withdrawal in the current steel industry and form a joint force. In recent years, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have deepened the supply-side structural reform of the steel industry, continuously promoted the high-quality development of the steel industry, and made joint restructuring and withdrawal mechanisms an important part of it. On the one hand, suspending capacity replacement solves the problem of capacity "entry" and effectively prevents the addition of new capacity; on the other hand, establishing an existing capacity withdrawal mechanism as soon as possible, creating conditions to guide the withdrawal of backward capacity, solve the problem of capacity "export", promote market demand and steel output to guide advantageous capacity, and achieve supply and demand balance. Through policy guidance, based on the principles of marketization and legalization, a sound capacity withdrawal mechanism should be established, which will be conducive to promoting joint restructuring, realizing the organic combination of a sound withdrawal mechanism and joint restructuring, and ensuring the healthy and orderly operation of the market.

Second, systematic planning should be carried out, and the focus should be on research and proposing targeted and operational policy recommendations. The current industrial concentration of the steel industry is still too dispersed, whether compared with developed countries abroad horizontally or compared with upstream and downstream vertically. The reason is that there is still a lack of policy and market environment that has substantial benefits for merging enterprises. Many advantageous enterprises in the industry have the ability and willingness to strive for new development opportunities and obtain new development space through active joint restructuring. The key lies in how to further eliminate non-market obstacles. At present, substantially accelerating the construction process of a unified national market and focusing on promoting the cross-regional transfer of factors such as production capacity, output, energy consumption, and environmental protection indicators are the golden keys to further open the door to restructuring. At the same time, in the process of unswervingly promoting joint restructuring, we must resolutely prevent the revival of a large number of ineffective production capacity or even "zombie production capacity". Overall, promoting joint restructuring and improving the exit mechanism is a long-term and arduous important task that requires the joint efforts and continuous promotion of the government, enterprises and the industry. The China Iron and Steel Association has begun to strengthen research in this area and carry out special investigations. It will study and propose a package of relevant policy recommendations to promote joint restructuring and improve exit mechanisms.

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