Steel and Railway-- A supply and demand exchange meeting for railway equipment and high-quality development of the steel industry was held

During the 13th China International Steel Conference, in order to build a cross-industry exchange and cooperation platform and promote close interaction between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, a supply and demand exchange meeting on railway equipment and high-quality development of the steel industry was held in Shanghai on September 5.

Jiang Wei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, vice president and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, and Liu Wei, secretary of the Party Committee and director of the Equipment Technology Center of the National Railway Administration, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Zang Ruoyu, director of the Organization and Personnel Department (Party Committee Office) of the China Iron and Steel Association, and Zhang Dawei, deputy director of the Equipment Technology Center of the National Railway Administration, presided over the morning and afternoon meetings respectively. Li Liang, executive general manager of the Production Supervision Center of China Railway Engineering Group Co., Ltd., Han Shusen, director of the Metallurgical Railway Technology Expert Committee, Tian Baoyin, third-level researcher of the Equipment Supervision and Management Department of the National Railway Administration, Wei Zhen, chairman of Hefei University of Technology High-tech Information Technology Co., Ltd., Zhu Tanhua, deputy general manager of Hesteel Co., Ltd., Guo Weida, deputy general manager of Shandong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Yang Wenwu, deputy general manager of Ma Steel Rail Transit Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Dai Xingjun, deputy general manager of CRRC Dalian Locomotive Co., Ltd., and Wang Hebin, deputy director (in charge of work) of the Metallurgical Education Resource Development Center, attended the meeting. More than 100 leaders and experts from more than 70 units including China Baowu, Ansteel, Hesteel, Shagang, CITIC Pacific Special Steel, CRRC, China Railway, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, Tiexincheng Company, and Beijing Jiaotong University attended the meeting.

Jiang Wei said that over the years, CRRC, China Railway and other railway equipment manufacturing and construction enterprises and China Railway Group have provided a large number of high-quality locomotives and other equipment to steel enterprises, participated in the construction and renovation of metallurgical railway lines, actively promoted direct transportation between railways and enterprises, and provided important guarantees for upgrading railway equipment for metallurgical enterprises, reducing transportation costs, and achieving the goal of "road to rail" green transportation. The steel industry is demand-oriented and continuously develops railway steel, including high-strength corrosion-resistant and weather-resistant plates and profiles suitable for conventional and heavy-duty railways, as well as rails, wheels and bearing steel suitable for high-speed railways, meeting the needs of the rapid development of national railway construction. The railway and steel industries complement each other's strengths and have established a long-term and stable cooperative relationship. While making great social contributions, the two industries have also set an example of cross-industry cooperation and win-win results.

Jiang Wei put forward four suggestions for further enhancing cross-industry cooperation. First, strengthen the coordination of the entire industry chain and strive to expand market demand. We should take the promotion of railway equipment and steel application as the starting point, actively study national policies and industry development trends, sort out the trend of product demand changes, coordinate and improve the steel standard system and supporting mechanisms for upstream and downstream industries, improve the quality of railway steel, expand demand, and explore and plan the layout of emerging industries such as new energy locomotives.

Second, we should adhere to innovation-driven development and ensure the security of the supply chain. We should promote innovation in emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and high-end equipment, focus on the integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, take the lead of leading enterprises, unite upstream and downstream enterprises and scientific research institutes in the industrial chain, build a collaborative innovation platform, focus on key process technologies, carry out common technology development of equipment, materials and parts, form a collaborative innovation mechanism of production, learning, research and application, and overcome the "stuck neck" problem as soon as possible. We should promote the upgrading and supporting of the industrial chain, the transformation of achievements and the protection of intellectual property rights, cultivate equipment and material enterprises with scale competitiveness, increase the proportion of localization, accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, and ensure the security of the industrial chain and supply chain.

The third is to strengthen industry supervision and enhance industry self-discipline. The two industries must resolutely implement the central government's requirements, ensure each other's reasonable profit margins, and promote the formation of a dynamic balance of "demand driving supply, and supply creating demand."

Fourth, strengthen cooperation and exchanges to promote integrated development. Actively carry out information sharing, business exchanges, technical seminars and other activities, sort out the breakpoints, bottlenecks and key points in cooperation, gather industry forces, and solve the problems of information asymmetry and poor connection between supply and demand across industries. We should focus on the future, continue to deepen the integration of iron and steel, strengthen industrial chain cooperation, actively embrace artificial intelligence, actively develop industrial Internet application scenarios, explore the establishment of a long-term and stable upstream and downstream cooperation mechanism, further strengthen cooperation in new technology development, product promotion, standard setting, industrial digitalization and other fields, and form a mutually beneficial and win-win community of interests.

Liu Wei said that in recent years, the railway equipment industry has thoroughly implemented the national innovation-driven development strategy, focused on promoting independent research and industrial application of key technologies, and a large number of major railway equipment scientific and technological innovation achievements have emerged. In particular, my country's high-speed rail ranks first in the world in terms of operating mileage, operating speed, technical content, and passenger volume, and the technical level of plateau, high-cold, and heavy-load railway equipment has gradually reached the world's leading level. He pointed out that at the same time, the railway equipment industry still faces many challenges. From an international perspective, global market competition has intensified, environmental protection pressure has increased, supply chain challenges have surged, and international cooperation and market access have become more difficult; from a domestic perspective, the traditional railway market has become saturated, the emerging railway market is still unstable, and production costs have risen year by year. At the same time, the railway equipment industry still has problems such as weak voice in the formulation and revision of international standards, the railway equipment industry chain, innovation chain, talent chain, and capital chain have not been fully opened, and the resilience and safety level of the industrial chain supply chain are not high.

Liu Wei put forward four suggestions and hopes for promoting the high-quality development of the railway equipment industry. First, jointly build an innovative model of "seven-party linkage" (industry departments, local governments, enterprises, universities, research institutes, funds, and industry associations) for the high-quality development of railway equipment, explore the establishment of a railway equipment innovation and development consortium driven by the needs of major scientific and technological innovation and industrial development projects, and strive to promote the innovation and development of key core technologies in the railway equipment industry.

Second, we will jointly carry out cooperation in railway equipment science and technology innovation. On the one hand, we will jointly carry out research on the planning of railway equipment science and technology innovation. The research project on the planning of railway equipment science and technology innovation during the 15th Five-Year Plan will be officially launched this month. We hope that the industry and the outside world will jointly participate in the planning research and make suggestions for the science and technology innovation of railway equipment during the 15th Five-Year Plan. On the other hand, we will jointly participate in the compilation of the "Yearbook of China's Railway Equipment Science and Technology Innovation Development".

The third is to jointly carry out research on the railway equipment technical standard system. On the one hand, a standard research and exchange mechanism will be established. The National Railway Administration Equipment Technology Center has established a communication and docking mechanism with some railway universities, associations, and enterprises, and built a standard exchange platform; it has formed a standard research team and started the research work on the railway equipment technical standard system, hoping to establish an exchange mechanism with more units and jointly carry out standard research. On the other hand, the standard will play a leading role. Actively promote the formulation of standards, especially strengthen the formulation of group standards; select and recommend excellent group standards, promote the transformation of group standards into industry standards and national standards; and continue to promote international mutual recognition of railway equipment technical standards.

Fourth, strengthen inter-industry cooperation and collaborative innovation. On the one hand, establish a long-term and stable inter-industry cooperation mechanism, jointly carry out key core technology research, break through the technical bottleneck of core components, enhance independent innovation capabilities, and accelerate the transformation and application of scientific and technological innovation results. On the other hand, promote the construction of a safe and controllable supply chain system. Strengthen close cooperation between upstream and downstream of the equipment industry chain, encourage and support upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry to establish stable cooperative relations, and ensure the stable supply and quality safety of key raw materials.

At the meeting, Zhang Leyu, Deputy Director of the Railway Business Department of CRRC Corporation Limited, Yin Qing, Director of Xingcheng Special Steel Bar and Wire Research Institute, Wu Haibo, Senior Engineer of China Railway High-tech Industrial Planning, Design and Research Institute, Liu Qiang, Deputy Director of Anshan Iron and Steel Railway Transportation Branch, Wen Chao, Senior Expert of CRRC Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., Lu Song, Chief Engineer of Magang Transportation Materials Company, Jiang Ruijin, Deputy General Manager of Science and Technology Development Branch of CRRC Changjiang Transportation Equipment Group Co., Ltd., Zhang Haifeng, Director of the Secretariat of the Steel Industry EPD Platform, Cheng Lei, Deputy General Manager of Hefei University of Technology Hi-Tech Information Technology Co., Ltd., and Yang Hongquan, Executive Director of Tiexincheng Certification Services (Beijing) Co., Ltd., respectively delivered keynote speeches, analyzing the development status and innovation trends of railway equipment technology and related steel materials from different perspectives of supply and demand.