The 16th China-Japan Bilateral Steel Technology Seminar was successfully held in Hikazaki from June 9 to 11, 2024. The conference brought together steel technical elites from China and Japan to conduct in-depth exchanges on the latest developments and future development of the steel industry.

The Chinese delegation consists of 25 industry leaders, led by Professor Tian Zhiling, Executive Vice President of the Chinese Society of Metals, Professor Wang Xinhua of the University of Science and Technology Beijing as adviser, and Professor Yang Jian of Shanghai University as chairman of the Chinese delegation. The Japanese side, headed by Professor Kunihiko Nakashima of Kitakyushu University, has attracted experts and scholars from industry leaders such as JFE Steel, Kobe Steel, and Tatsu Steel, as well as top universities in Japan.

The seminar attracted a total of 57 participants. Professor Tian Zhiling gave a warm opening speech at the opening ceremony, and Professor Wang Xinhua and Professor Yang Jian delivered wonderful speeches at the welcome banquet. Since 1981, the China-Japan bilateral Steel Technology Seminar has become an important platform for the exchange of steel technology between the two countries, held every two to three years, and has played a pivotal role in the common progress and development of the steel industry between China and Japan.

The Chinese side published a total of 12 high-quality papers at this conference. Zhang Jianliang, Dean of the School of Metallurgy and Ecology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, delivered a keynote report entitled "Green Transformation of China's Ironmaking Industry". The report describes the development path of China's iron-making industry, defines the environmental and energy challenges of the iron-making industry, introduces the low-carbon and efficient development methods of China's traditional blast furnaces, and the latest progress of advanced iron-making methods such as hydrogen metallurgy and hydrogen rich blast furnaces. Xu Can, general manager of MCC CCID Information Technology Co., LTD., made an in-depth elaboration on "Business digitalization to digital business, Construction of digital-driven smart factory - Practice and Prospect of digital transformation of steel enterprises". Digital transformation is the main path for iron and steel enterprises to achieve high-quality development, and the construction of smart factories in iron and steel enterprises includes three levels: intelligent equipment, intelligent production control and intelligent management. The report explains how to create value for steel companies through the implementation of smart manufacturing projects at three levels. In addition, Xu Haifa, Chief of the Central Research Institute of Baosteel, conducted iron-making technology; Professor Yang Jian of Shanghai University, President Zhang Lifeng of North China University of Technology, Professor Jiang Min of University of Science and Technology Beijing, Professor Zhu Miaoyong and Professor Zhang Bo of Northeastern University, and Dr. Ji Chenxi of Shougang conducted steel-making continuous casting technology; Ma Guangyu, Chief of Anshan Steel and Professor Gao Xu of Central South University conducted resource and environmental technology; Professor Xu Anjun from Beijing University of Science and Technology gave an excellent presentation on metallurgical process engineering technology. Compared with the previous Sino-Japanese bilateral seminar on steel technology, the Chinese report has made great progress and development from content to form, and has well demonstrated the progress and latest development of the technical level of China's steel industry.

In addition, Japan also contributed 12 wonderful papers. Professor Kazuki Morita of the University of Tokyo, Japan, conducted a study entitled "Fundamental Research on slag and Solvents from the point of view of an Iron and steel metallurgist since the 1980s". Slag and solvent are composed of various oxide compounds, is almost all metal materials high temperature smelting and refining process accompanied by byproducts, they are usually in a uniform liquid, sometimes in a solid-liquid mixed phase state. The report describes the author's nearly 40 years of research in slag and solvent research, including optimization of smelting processes, evaluation and development of slag refining processes, activity measurement of thermodynamically stable oxide components, and measurement of thermal conductivity for heat flow control in steelmaking. Dr. Kenichi Higuchi of Nippon Steel gave a keynote presentation on "Carbon Neutrality Initiatives for the Japanese Steel Industry." Due to the need to develop innovative CO2 emission reduction technologies in the process of iron ore reduction and smelting, Japan has started to develop new processes for iron and steel metallurgy using hydrogen since 2021. This is a multi-technology development, including hydrogen reduction technology using blast furnaces, direct reduction technology using pure hydrogen for low-grade iron ore, electric furnace technology for producing high-quality steel and energy-saving CO2 capture technology, and priority development of blast furnace processes using low-grade iron ore to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. In addition, he has also published high-level papers in metallurgical physics and chemistry, ironmaking, steelmaking and continuous casting, resources and environment.

After the meeting, the Japanese side arranged for the Chinese personnel to visit the Great division plant and Hachiman plant of the Kyushu Steel Company, visiting the blast furnace and hot rolling site. The two plants are located in the urban areas of Oita City and Hikari City, respectively. They are actively building steel mills that coexist with the city. They are developing technologies for the coexistence of steel mills and cities that significantly reduce dust emission and dust generation and recycle water from steel mills. We were impressed by the highly efficient steel production process of the full hot load process at the Odo Division Plant and the high-quality production process of alloyed hot dip galvanized automotive exterior panels at the Hachiman Plant.

Through the in-depth exchanges at this meeting, both China and Japan have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of each other's latest progress and achievements in the field of steel technology, and both sides have benefited a lot. For Chinese metallurgical scientists, the conference not only provided a valuable opportunity for them to understand the research trends and results of their Japanese counterparts, but also promoted knowledge sharing and experience exchange among domestic counterparts. These exchanges have brought profound inspiration to Chinese metallurgical science and technology personnel, and many cutting-edge ideas and methods are expected to be used for reference and application in future work. Both sides agreed that holding such academic exchange activities on a regular basis is of great importance and far-reaching significance in promoting the common development of steel technology between China and Japan. Therefore, the future Sino-Japanese bilateral steel technology seminar will continue to serve as an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, and continue to promote the exchange and progress of Sino-Japanese steel technology.