China News Network, August 8 Topic: He Wenbo of China Iron and Steel Association: The deep integration space of the steel industry and the financial industry is infinite
Zhongxin financial reporter Xia Bin
He Wenbo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, recently said in Beijing that the steel industry that manufactures green and green manufacturing has unlimited vitality, the new requirements of low-carbon development promote the new opportunities of the steel industry, and the deep integration space of the steel industry and the financial industry is infinite.
The "2023 Steel Industry Green Technology, Green Project and Green Finance Supply and Demand Docking Service Activity" was jointly organized by China Iron and Steel Association, China Banking Association and China Energy Conservation Association. The event was organized by the Green and Low-Carbon Finance Industry Committee of China Energy Conservation Association. He Wenbo delivered a speech at the above event.
The picture shows the "2023 Steel Industry Green Technology, Green Project, Green Finance Supply and Demand Docking Service Activity" held in Beijing. Photo courtesy of the organizer.
"We often say that China is dealing with the two major problems and challenges of pollutant control and carbon emission reduction at the same time, and it will achieve the goal of carbon neutrality in a shorter time than developed countries, which means that our development concept and development mode must undergo profound changes." He Wenbo believes that the green and low-carbon transformation of the steel industry, high investment and operating costs are one of the problems faced by the steel industry.
He mentioned that in terms of environmental protection, the cumulative investment in ultra-low emission transformation has exceeded 2000 billion yuan, and according to the national requirements by the end of 2025, more than 80% of steel companies need to complete the transformation, and a large amount of capital investment will still be required in the next three years. Low-carbon technology in the steel industry is a high-risk, long-term and large-investment field, and financial services are an important guarantee for economic development and technological innovation.
He Wenbo bluntly said that the huge amount of money required for the green and low-carbon transformation of China's steel is not enough to rely on the strength of enterprises, and it is bound to affect the market competitiveness of enterprises. Green finance needs to play its due role in promoting continuous innovation in low-carbon technologies for steel companies.
How to do a good job in the joint construction, sharing and win-win situation between the steel industry and financial institutions, and make sufficient use of financial resources to accelerate the low-carbon transformation, He Wenbo gave four suggestions.
The first is to build a low-carbon steel financial investment system. Competition in low-carbon technologies will be the focus of competition between countries for a long time to come. China's steel industry hopes that all relevant ministries and commissions will strengthen policy research, actively guide financial institutions to take the initiative to connect with enterprises, and provide a full range of financial services. Financial institutions should accelerate the compilation of green finance support catalogues, clearly support low-carbon technology projects and selection methods, increase the proportion of green credit investment and issuance, and more accurately support the availability of financing for leading enterprises, so that the most promising leading enterprises can receive the largest and most timely support.
The second is to increase innovation in low-carbon financial products. He Wenbo said that the steel industry, as a key industry of carbon emissions, is inseparable from the support of financial institutions, green credit, green funds, green bonds and other diversified financial products, can increase the selectivity of steel enterprise financing, carbon emission rights, carbon trading rights and other new collateral, can expand the scope of collateral for steel enterprise credit business, which urgently needs the top-level design of government green finance, and the continuous innovation of green financial products of financial institutions.
The third is to promote the precise and efficient implementation of financial policies. An effective cooperation mechanism should be further established between the financial industry and the steel industry. The focus is to combine the green and low-carbon development goals and tasks of the steel industry, promote the concretization and listing of financial support projects, implement refined, differentiated and dynamic management according to the development of the industry, include key advantageous enterprises and typical green projects in the list, provide sustainable financial support, and increase the proportion of medium and long-term loans and direct financing.
He especially mentioned that the iron and steel association has carried out tracking, sorting and evaluating the technical list and capability list for the ultra-low emission transformation project, extreme energy efficiency project, carbon peak and carbon neutrality of the steel industry and other work implemented by the whole industry, which can help financial institutions identify high-quality green and low-carbon projects. For cutting-edge and difficult projects that are "incomprehensible" and "inaccurate", industry associations are willing to play the role of expert teams to support financial institutions to establish project evaluation systems, pay attention to supervision and risk control, and realize limited funds to effectively invest in green, low-carbon, energy-saving and emission-reduction excellent projects.
The fourth is to increase the supply of financial products and services for private steel enterprises and increase financial inclusiveness. The private economy is a new force for promoting Chinese-style modernization and an important foundation for high-quality development. Private steel has an important position and development potential in China's steel industry. Increase financial support for private steel, encourage them to participate in promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and provide them with financial support for the research and development of carbon reduction technologies.
This event draws on the experience of previous supply and demand docking service activities, builds a technology and capital docking platform for steel enterprises, green and low-carbon technology service enterprises and financial institutions, carries out face-to-face docking activities, signs agreements of intent, and establishes follow-up work contacts.
At the theme conference, Everbright Bank and Bank of Ningbo signed strategic cooperation agreements with the China Energy Conservation Association respectively, and provided the China Energy Conservation Association with 50 billion yuan and 500 billion yuan of intended credit lines respectively. China Iron and Steel Industry, China Energy Conservation Association and China Circular Economy Association signed a strategic cooperation agreement on "aggregating industry resources to empower the high-quality development of the steel industry".
At the signing ceremony and closing ceremony, the Green and Low-carbon Finance Industry Committee of China Energy Conservation Association signed strategic cooperation agreements with Green Energy Technology Development Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Zhejiang Kewei Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhongliu Technology Co., Ltd. (End)