Satoshi Murata: progressing with China’s steel industry

Progressing with China’s steel industry

As early as May 1977, Tang Ke of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry visited Deng Xiaoping at Mount Xi and talked about the plan to import equipment along the coast to build a steel factory utilizing oversea’s resources. China used to build factories inland alongside its mineral reserves, so the plan to build along the coast, which was the West’s advance model, was a rather progressive one for China. However Deng welcomed this proposal and ordered a large investment of money on modern devices to build something great. After a long time of planning, inspection and negotiation, China made a deal with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and its president Yoshihiro Inayama visited China in November 1977, raising the curtain on this friendship.

On March 19, 1978, the China National Technical Corporation and NSSMC signed an agreement to set up Baosteel in Beijing. On June 28, the two corporations signed the technical agreement with Asashi trading and Sany group and thus began the construction of Baosteel. The first phase of Baosteel benefited from NSSMC’s devices, expertise and the personnel’s systematic training and internship in Japan.