China - January 28, 2025 Digital tools revolutionize traditional steel production in northeast China (Voice_over) Abundant coal and iron ore resources allowed Anshan Iron and Steel company, or Ansteel, in northeastern China to become the first steel plant to resume production after the Second World War and the founding of the People's Republic of China. Decades on, the huge production volumes and outdated processes are restricting its development. A digital transformation is underway in areas including mining, iron- and steel making. Fifty-five Ansteel production lines have completed what's known as "intelligent transformation", with more than 80 percent of production processes now automated. Metal plating is usually the last step in steel production. Different coating material allows the service life of steel to be extended by decades. All the production processes at this factory are under 24-hour unmanned machine management. (Sound_bite) Zheng Hao, Factory Director, Metal Plating Factory, Anshan Iron and Steel Company: "Since the completion of the Dark Factory, the original equipment has been replaced by intelligent equipment, and the operating efficiency has been increased by 20 percent. Coating and plating is very complex. So we input the accumulated experience of workers into the computer, and then use the advantages of its computing power and self-learning, to optimize these experiences and make quality control more stable." (Voice_over) Ansteel's nearby mines have also changed completely. (Sound_bite) Li Hui, Manager, Ecological Park of Anshan Iron and Steel Mine: "We started reclaiming 8 nearby mines in 2004, first by covering the rock with soil and then planting trees. But now we have developed a new method, which is to fill the planting basket with waste mineral sand, then directly plant it on the rock surface, and the survival rate can reach 80 percent." (Voice_over) Ansteel is the third largest steel production plant in the world, with crude steel output reaching 55 million tons in 2023. China's policy of new quality productive forces prioritizes new technologies and processes, without giving up on or overlooking traditional industries. Here, digitization is empowering traditional enterprises to provide the population with daily necessities with higher efficiency. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]