China’s new 5-year plan sets goals for domestic steel sector

• Focus on curbing excessive competition in steel sector
• Promote green, low-carbon and globally competitive industry

Mysteel Global: The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development was released on October 28, outlining national development priorities for 2026-2030.

Among the guidance, the plan sets out specific directions and goals for high-quality development of China’s steel sector, emphasizing measures to address excessive competition, promote a green and low-carbon transition, and strengthen the industry’s global competitiveness as part of building a modernized industrial system and reinforcing the foundations of the real economy.

The plan highlights the importance of tackling “rat race” competition in key sectors, including steel. Specifically, it calls for unified law enforcement in market regulation, enhanced quality supervision, and measures against monopolies and unfair competition, with the goal of fostering a market characterized by healthy competition and fair pricing.

The concept of “anti-involution” (anti-rat-race or anti-excessive competition) was first mentioned at the Central Politburo meeting on July 30 2024. Additionally, the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, at a meeting held on July 1 2025, explicitly called for regulating disorderly price competition, guiding enterprises to improve product quality, and promoting the orderly exit of outdated production capacity.

Green transition is another key priority. To achieve peak carbon emissions, the plan stresses controlling both the total volume and intensity of emissions. On the raw material front, it emphasizes peaking coal and petroleum consumption. Furthermore, coordinated efforts to reduce pollution, control multiple pollutants, and implement cross-regional initiatives are included to improve environmental quality.

The plan also calls for expanding the coverage of the China Carbon Emission Trade Exchange, which officially included the steel sector in March 2025. This step aims to support the green and low-carbon transition of the steel sector by reinforcing enterprise responsibility for emissions reduction, accelerating technological innovation, and lowering transition costs, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on October 29.

At the industry level, the plan stresses upgrading traditional sectors such as mining and metallurgy to consolidate and enhance their global competitiveness.

The plan proposes strengthening self-sufficiency and resilience in industrial chains through industrial foundation re-engineering and research on major technologies and equipment. It also recommends developing advanced manufacturing clusters by rolling out high-quality development initiatives for key industrial chains in the manufacturing sector.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.