As pointed out in the report at the 19th National Congress of the CPC, ‘Transforming into a fast growth stage from a high-quality development stage, the economy of our country is at a stage of tackling key problems to transform development modes, optimize economic structures and transform growth power, and building a modernized economic system is an urgent requirement for crossing the strategic pass and a strategic target for our country’s development.’ To build a modernized economic system is a necessary requirement for our country’s economy to enter into a high-quality development stage and the only road to create a beautiful life for the people. What is a modernized economic system? Tsinghua University National Research Institute Dean and School of Public Policy & Management Professor Hu Angang considered this question and told us the following: first, it means high-quality economic development and China entering into a comprehensive innovation era and green development era; second, it means a high-benefit economic level, building an industry system of synergetic development in substantial economic, scientific and technological innovation, modern finance and human resources, and greatly promoting total factor productivity; third, it means middle and high-speed economic growth and sustainable growth per capita income entering a high-income stage; fourth, it means high-level rural development; fifth, it means a more balanced regional development pattern forming an urban pattern of harmonious development for small, medium and large cities and small towns with city agglomeration as the main body; sixth, it means a more perfect market economic system, including more energetic market regulation mechanisms, more competitive state property management system, more efficient governmental service system and safer and more efficient macroscopic readjustment, control and policy coordination mechanism; and seventh, it means more comprehensive opening up to the outside world, forming an opening pattern of internal and external linkage between land and sea, and mutual aid in the west and east directions. As state-owned enterprises are the cornerstones of the state economy, the reform and construction of a modernized economic system among state-owned enterprises is especially critical and important, and the reform of state-owned enterprises must aim at being larger, stronger and more excellent, opening their eyes to the whole world, complying with international standards and cultivating world first-class enterprises with global competitiveness.
MCC employees established the upgraded ‘four beams and eight columns’ business system, promoted the big development of enterprises and laid a solid foundation for setting up a modernized economic system. As the world’s largest and strongest metallurgical construction contractor and operation service provider for metallurgical enterprises, the MCC Group has given full play to its indelible, indispensable and irreplaceable role in China’s steel and iron industry system construction. In the new era, MCC employees have spared no efforts to practice the strategy of being the ‘national team of metallurgical construction, the main force of capital construction and the pacesetter of emerging industries, insisting on taking the road of high-tech construction in the long term’, shown China’s increasingly majestic steel and iron strength along the ‘Belt and Road’ route by virtue of the strong comprehensive strength of the national team of metallurgical construction, made achievements on the stage of national capital construction by virtue of MCC’s comprehensive transformation achievements made on behalf of the nine technology research institutes, possessed leading advantages and galloped into the emerging industries market by virtue of the Hengqin Underground Comprehensive Pipe Gallery Project. The upgraded ‘four beams and eight columns’ business system was put forward earliest, at the beginning of 2015. MCC’s ‘four beams and eight columns’ focused on key foundation projects of the national real economy within MCC’s scope of competency, and mobilized all its advantageous resources in ferrous metallurgy, capital construction, emerging industries and other fields, to comprehensively liberate and stimulate its social productivity according to the four sectors and eight directions, and try to realize the vision of building a ‘Beautiful MCC’. The business system decides the MCC Group’s market strategy and development direction, and is of great importance and profound guiding significance for MCC’s future development. China Minmetals General Manager & Party Organization Deputy Secretary and MCC Group President & Party Committee Secretary Guo Wenqing vividly pointed out that ‘Beautiful MCC’ is like a majestic house and the ‘four beams and eight columns’ are its steady supports. It is necessary to forge the upgraded ‘four beams and eight columns’ business system, covering the four beams of ‘project contracting, real estate development, equipment manufacturing and resource development’, and the eight columns of ‘metallurgical engineering, high-end housing construction, mine construction and mineral exploitation, middle and high-end real estate, traffic municipal infrastructure, core technical equipment and MCC’s steel structure, environmental engineering and new energy, and featured theme park projects’. In 2016, under economic new normal, Guo Wenqing followed the trend and planned and confirmed the strategy of being the ‘national team of metallurgical construction, the main force of capital construction and the pacesetter of emerging industries, insisting on taking the road of high-tech construction in the long term’. On July 25th, 2017, Guo Wenqing called upon MCC’s employees to highlight the reform problems, focus on the main core businesses, spare no efforts to forge the first ‘national team’ in steel and iron metallurgical construction and operation services in the world, fight on three fronts to ‘Be the Best and Restart Business Again’, and develop with high quality, high benefits and green and intelligent services. In capital construction, it is necessary to focus on creating features and favor ‘high-tech large-scale complexes’ and other projects. The design and construction enterprises shall give full play to their respective comparative advantages, not only realizing fine high-end consultation, planning, design, supervision and other major works, but also promoting their comprehensive project management ability, realizing the ‘two upgrades’ of their integrated solution service ability and professionalized service ability, and guaranteeing the strengthening of capital construction. In emerging industries, it is necessary to speed up MCC’s leadership of the field and enlarge its advantages to make its market share rise year by year. Under the circumstance that the risks are controllable, ‘fast’ is the only standard for ‘right’ to blossom and yield fruit in health maintenance, pipe galleries, sponge cities, energy saving and environmental protection, and other businesses. ‘Ramps’ will be connected with ‘expressways’, which will ‘make’ emerging industries ‘larger’.
MCC employees insist on scientific and technological innovation and talent innovation, firmly believe that enterprise innovation is an assistor for accelerating development and recreate new advantages in remarkable development to build a modernized economic system. Innovation is the first power for guiding development and a key point for strengthening scientific and technological innovation, talent innovation and even enterprise innovation and development. As Guo Wenqing pointed out, “We must highlight doing a good job in scientific and technological innovation system construction and core technology research and development, and guarantee core technology upgrading, practical technology popularization and high and new technology breakthroughs.” At present, the MCC Group has increased the investment intensity of its scientific and technological research and development, led the enterprise’s transformation, upgrading and quality and efficiency promotion with systematic and high-end scientific and technological innovation, established 9 technology research institutes, positively given full play to the potential of its state-level key laboratories and scientific and technological platforms, insisted on the innovation concept of ‘small core and large cooperation’, insisted on keeping pace with ‘source innovation, achievement transformation and market development’, continuously developed in the ‘high difficulties’ of the metallurgical construction field, focused on green, recycling, low carbon and other objectives, promoted its technological innovation ability in key links and key fields, and moved from the ‘follower’ towards becoming the ‘leader’ in the global steel and iron industry. In the capital construction field, the construction subsidiaries have rapidly extended their ‘water, electricity and gas’ advantages in the metallurgical industry to civil infrastructure construction, utilized other advantages and formed a concrete and steel structure fabrication construction technology system with MCC’s features. In emerging industries, the MCC Group has focused on overall urban planning, transformed from original single technology breakthroughs such as beautiful villages, sewage treatment, underground pipe galleries and so on to a series of technological innovations in monitoring, governing, design, construction, operation and so on, and provided a series of solutions and operation services. Scientific and technological innovation will truly bring about a new appearance for enterprise development, and talent innovation will surely bring perpetual power for MCC’s development. As Guo Wenqing pointed out, “If the MCC Group wants to win the initiative in future competition, this will ultimately depend on the talents’ strengths. Talent advantages are the most necessary advantages to cultivate, with the most potential and most reliability. The essence of driving innovation is driving talents. Whether in steel and iron metallurgy, capital construction or emerging industries, by virtue of new technologies, new talents and new development modes, the MCC Group has established a young talent team with the right number of people, strong technologies, excellent businesses and high quality standards based on the principles of ‘serving development, use first, high end guidance and innovative mechanisms’, thereby forging a leaders’ team with loyal undertakings and a workers’ team with industry-leading expert technical and scientific research talents and exquisite professional skills, as well as introducing high-end internationalized talents. At present, the MCC Group has the 2 CAE academicians Yu Runcang and Yue Qingrui, and the technical masters trained by MCC Zeng Zhengchao and Ning Xianhai respectively emerged victorious at the World Skills Competitions in two consecutive years. Under MCC’s mechanism of ‘gathering talents, introducing talents, cultivating talents and using talents’, the innovation energy of all talents has competitively burst out. It is such measures as strengthening science and technology and talents that guarantee that MCC has recreated its new advantages, extended its new energies and brought about a new atmosphere for the construction of a modernized economic system.
MCC employees have accurately exerted force along the ‘Belt and Road’ route, made key breakthroughs in overseas markets, comprehensively opened new patterns and won the first chance to build a modernized economic system. Openness brings progress and isolation surely leads to backwardness. As President Guo Wenqing has emphasized many times, “What is the most urgent in the MCC Group now is to closely grasp the strategic development opportunity period along the ‘Belt and Road’, give full play to metallurgy’s pattern of ‘China’s metallurgical standard + whole industry chain’, focus on green and environmentally friendly projects, and substantially promote MCC’s metallurgical market share and brand influence overseas.” As the earliest enterprise to go global among central enterprises, the MCC Group has accurately exerted its force along the ‘Belt and Road’ route, strongly developed with countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, and expanded its markets in Europe, the USA and other developed countries, successively establishing the CISDI UK Company and USA Company. The Baosteel Zhanjiang Steel and Iron Base is a 10-million-ton internationally first-class green carbon steel plate high-quality product base and also a demonstration project for MCC employees to implement national innovation-driven supply side structure reform. As another 10-million-ton steel and iron construction project contracted by China overseas, the Formosa Plastics Vietnam Ha Tinh Steel Plant has realized the ‘going global’ of China’s whole metallurgical construction industry chain, generating a total of about USD 2.4 billion in signed foreign contracts and driving USD 3.35 billion in exports to China’s service outsourcing industry. After the successful ignition of Blast Furnace No. 1 at the Vietnam Ha Tinh Steel Plant, WISDRI officially signed a contract with the German SMS Corporation and Vietnamese Hefa Rongju Steel and Iron Co., Ltd. for the Hefa Rongju Phase I and II Steelmaking EPC Project. As an innovative and exploratory project for China and Malaysia in capacity cooperation along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park Steel and Iron Project has an annual output of 3.5 million tons and adopts whole process steel and iron smelting process production flow and internationally advanced environmental technology, not only filling the blank in the whole ASEAN region, but also forging one of the most competitive steel and iron enterprises in Southeast Asia. Regarding Indonesia Dothink Steel and Iron Co., Ltd.’s 3.5 million t/a Steel and Iron EPC Project, as a provider of complete steel and iron flow scheme technology, the MCC Group has provided a complete flow scheme and full life cycle services for the owner, including early-stage high-end consultation, integrated design and such EPC turnkey projects as iron making, steel making, hot rolling rod wires and the facilities of the whole plant. The Spanish ACS Corporation’s 300,000 t/y Cold and Hot Compatible Continuous Hot Galvanizing Machine Project marked the first time that the cold rolling technologies and high-end complete equipment of MCC and even China have been exported to developed European countries. These footprints of MCC employees along the ‘Belt and Road’ route fully demonstrate the MCC Group’s first-class strength as the national team of metallurgical construction, and also constitute a considerable record card in overseas development.
All these great achievements are the results of continuous struggling, and all the great careers that need to be promoted in the course of carrying forward our cause and forging ahead into the future. The MCC Group’s brilliant achievements in ‘recasting national strength for five years’ are the results of carrying out the Party and country’s new development concepts of ‘innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared’, transforming the development modes, deepening supply-side structural reform, paying attention to the innovative development of science and technology and talents, and insisting on the strategy of ‘going global’, thereby contributing a steady flow of strength for the country’s construction of a modernized economic system. In the future, standing at a new historical starting point, the MCC Group will continuously march towards the strategic goal of being a metal mining group ‘which is ‘First in China and first-class in the world’, continuously march towards the positive vision of ‘focusing on MCC’s main business and building a beautiful MCC’, and contribute to making state-owned capital stronger and larger.
