News
December 30
This marks the re-implementation of the steel export license system in China 16 years after it was abolished in 2009, signifying a new stage in China’s steel export management.
The China Iron and Steel Association stated that the current inclusion of steel products in the export license management system is an important measure to guide the standardized export of steel products and promote the high-quality development of the steel industry, which is conducive to maintaining the global steel supply and demand pattern and trade balance.
The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) stated that continuously improving the management of steel product exports is a key step in ensuring that steel products prioritize meeting domestic demand during my country’s process of accelerating the construction of a new development pattern. It is also a necessary measure for my country to guide industrial upgrading domestically and participate in international supply chain cooperation in the context of globalization. This will help coordinate trade flows, integrate trade channels, promote a positive interaction between international and domestic markets, and ultimately achieve the transformation and upgrading of the steel industry.
According to Announcement No. 79, the steel products subject to export license management involve 300 customs commodity codes, covering the entire industrial chain from raw materials to finished products.
In September 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, jointly issued the “Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Steel Industry (2025-2026),” which clearly proposed to strengthen the management of steel product exports, maintain export competition order, and optimize the structure of steel export products. Announcement No. 79 is a concrete measure to implement this requirement.
