Adhere to Trends with Resolute Action and Jointly Build a New Journey: Collaboratively Pioneering a New Landscape of High-Quality Development in the Metal Materials Trading Industry

Time elapses swiftly, and new achievements emerge with each passing day. As the train of time arrives at the platform of 2026, on behalf of the China National Association of Metal Material Trade (CAMT), I hereby extend my most sincere New Year greetings and heartfelt well-wishes to all colleagues and member enterprises dedicated to the industry, as well as to all leaders and friends from various sectors who have long cared for and supported the development of the China National Association of Metal Material Trade (CAMT).

Looking back on 2025—a pivotal year of connecting the past and future in China’s development trajectory. Standing at the concluding juncture of the 14th Five-Year Plan, we collectively outlined the grand blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Development. Amidst the complex and severe domestic and international economic landscape as well as the immense pressure from in-depth industrial restructuring, the entire industry rose to challenges, explored new opportunities with perseverance and wisdom, and pursued innovative development through breakthroughs and reconstruction. Despite multiple challenges, the industry is accelerating its transformation toward high-end, intelligent, green, and integrated directions, with high-quality development emerging as an irreversible tide of the era.

Looking back on 2025, a series of national policies for stabilizing the economy and promoting development were gradually exerting their effects. The in-depth advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, the steady progress of new urbanization, the vigorous rise of the new energy industry, and the expansion of strategic emerging industries have all opened up new growth spaces for the application of metal materials. More importantly, a profound transformation driven by technological innovation from within is becoming the most powerful engine for the industry’s breakthrough and rejuvenation. We firmly believe that winter nurtures the hope of spring, and the period of adjustment and reconstruction is precisely the critical window for laying out the future and accumulating momentum for take-off.

Looking back on 2025—Guided by the tenet of "leading, guiding, standardizing, and serving", with "integrating the steel industry chain and co-building a development ecosystem" as the core, and "upgrading the industrial chain, optimizing the supply chain, reshaping the value chain, and co-building the ecological chain" as the key approaches, we aligned with the industry’s pace, aggregated strength amid transformation, and carried out a series of fruitful initiatives:

We Uphold Party Leadership to Forge a "Red Engine" for Development:

Under the sound leadership of Party committees at all levels, the Party branch of the association has deeply implemented the "123456" Party-building work methodology, adhered to the principle of "simultaneously advancing Party building and business operations", and driven the high-quality development of the association through high-quality Party building, yielding notable outcomes. The Party branch was once again recognized as an "Advanced Primary-level Party Organization" by the superior Party committee, and its principal responsible person was honored as an "Outstanding Communist Party Member" by the Party Committee of National Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce.

We Focus on Core Issues to Pool the Collective Wisdom of the Industry:

We analyzed the industry landscape and emphasized that amid the wave of artificial intelligence and digitalization, enterprises should abide by the principles of modern supply chains, strengthen, supplement, and extend industrial chains, pursue coordinated development, and advance toward new horizons. In response to "inward-looking" vicious competition, we resolutely issued an industry initiative, clearly guiding the industry to shift from "price competition" to "value competition" to safeguard a fair and orderly market environment.

We Deepen Standardization to Consolidate the Foundation for Development:

We successfully completed the change of management of the Standardization Working Committee and revised the Group Standard Management Measures, providing solid institutional support for the standardization, regularization, and high-quality development of the industry. We continuously expanded new ideas and boundaries for standardization work—beyond ferrous metal materials, we extended our efforts to non-ferrous metals, new metal materials, and strategic emerging industries. Throughout the year, 40 standards were initiated and 19 were released, marking a historic breakthrough.

We Expand International Vision to Proactively Build Bridges for Cooperation:

The association actively engaged with relevant international organizations, conducted in-depth discussions on the cooperation prospects of co-building regional industrial and supply chains, and facilitated enterprises’ better integration into the Belt and Road Initiative. We proposed and firmly opposed the U.S. tariff war and trade protectionism to jointly maintain the stability and security of the global bulk commodity industrial chain.

We Launch the "AI + Steel Initiative" with Significant Outcomes from "Experiencing the New Force of AI":

Through organizing the "Experiencing the New Force of AI" series of activities, we arranged for industry representatives to visit cutting-edge technology enterprises such as Tencent, Volcano Engine, and Ouyeel, where they had immersive experiences of innovative applications of technologies like industrial AI and digital twins. This established a high-value platform for "zero-distance" dialogue between the steel supply chain and cutting-edge technology. These initiatives significantly enhanced the industry’s awareness of and enthusiasm for AI applications, helped member companies accurately grasp the frontier trends of integrated green, digital, and intelligent development, and provided a clear path and strong confidence for enterprises to embrace intelligent transformation.

We Proactively Promote the Optimization, Upgrading, and Innovative Development of the Association:

In accordance with the requirements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Social Work Department, we comprehensively consolidated the foundation for adjusting and optimizing the association’s structural layout, laying a solid groundwork for subsequent optimization and enhancement. In response to the new situation and new requirements of industry development, we focused on promoting innovation in concepts, ideas, models, functions, and services from the perspectives of global vision, industry height, and enterprise concerns, achieving remarkable results. These initiatives will be implemented in phases during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Behind all these efforts lies our unwavering belief in and relentless pursuit of the industry’s future, the united leadership and hard work of the Party branch, the council, and the leadership team, as well as the active participation and persistent efforts of all members. We firmly believe that the development of the market economy is inseparable from the irreplaceable role of industry associations. The value of an association lies in being the "assistant to government work, the helmsman of industry development, and the promoter of enterprise innovation", as well as the "highland for idea convergence, the platform for resource sharing, and the guide for standardized operation".

The year 2026 marks the inaugural year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. We stand at a new historical juncture defined by digital-intelligent integration and new-quality productive forces—a pivotal year for harnessing trends, acting with resolve, and shaping the future. We aim to collaborate with all industry stakeholders to prioritize the following core tasks:

1. Unwaveringly Guiding the Association and Industry Toward Innovation and Quality Development Through High-Quality Party Building

We will deepen the core philosophy of “Party building drives association development, and association development fuels industrial progress”, translating the Party’s political and organizational strengths into industrial development and innovation advantages. By innovating Party building modalities, we will ensure the association’s work remains aligned with the correct direction, activate the industry’s endogenous motivation and organizational vitality, and address all risks and challenges.

2. Fully Committed to Building New Bridges for International Cooperation and Opening Up New Tracks for “Dual Circulation” Development

Under the new development paradigm of mutually reinforcing domestic and international circulations, the association will actively serve as a “navigator”, “connector”, and “service enabler”. On one hand, we will deepen institutionalized cooperation with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries to facilitate the “going global” of Chinese technologies, products, standards, and services. On the other hand, we will guide enterprises to leverage China’s super-large domestic market, expand international resource channels, and build a more resilient, secure, and stable global supply chain system.

3. Persistently Advancing Digital-Intelligent Integration to Forge Future-Oriented New-Quality Productive Forces

Digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) have evolved from “optional” to “imperative”. We will promote “AI + Steel” integrated innovation, exploring applications of AI large models, computer vision, and intelligent prediction technologies across intelligent procurement, digital twin factories, and smart supply chain management. These efforts will comprehensively empower enterprises to reduce costs and enhance efficiency, driving the industry’s transition from “manufacturing” to “intelligent manufacturing”.

4. Uniting Efforts to Build a Collaborative and Symbiotic New Industrial Ecosystem for Comprehensive Upgrading of the Circulation Industry

The era of individual competition has ended; future competition will occur between supply chains and ecosystems. We will advocate the concept of “co-opetition” (collaborative competition), encouraging upstream and downstream enterprises to break down barriers and engage in in-depth collaboration in technology R&D, market expansion, and resource integration. We will strengthen our role in aggregation and guidance to facilitate substantive industrial chain cooperation projects, collectively addressing market volatility and enhancing the stability and competitiveness of the entire industrial chain.

5. Continuously Consolidating the Foundation for High-Quality Development Through Standardization and Credit Construction

In times of industrial adjustment, it is critical to strengthen internal capabilities and solidify fundamentals. We will advance the formulation, revision, and implementation of group standards, industry standards, and national standards, and improve the enterprise credit evaluation system. This will enable compliant, reputable enterprises to gain greater market recognition and development opportunities.

6. Proactively Integrating Green Concepts Across the Entire Metal Materials Circulation Chain

We will promote green logistics and circular packaging to reduce carbon emissions in warehousing and transportation; build an efficient system for scrap metal recycling to help member enterprises unlock the value of “urban mines”; and collaboratively develop green and low-carbon standards and evaluation systems for the circulation sector, guiding the industry toward systematic carbon reduction from source to end. We will make green development the most distinctive feature and enduring competitive advantage of China’s metal materials trading industry.

Dear colleagues and friends:

The best time of the year is spring, and it's the season of flowers when we meet again. The breath of spring is already in the air, and the dawn of the new year has arrived. The road ahead may still be bumpy, but we are full of confidence in the strong resilience of the Chinese economy and the broad future of the metal materials trading industry in China! This confidence stems from the solid industrial foundation accumulated over more than four decades of reform and opening up, from our complete industrial system and huge domestic market, and even more so from the indomitable and innovative spirit of every entrepreneur!

China National Association of Metal Material Trade(CAMT) will, as always, fulfill its duties with dedication and work hand in hand with all its members and industry colleagues with one heart and one mind. Let us steer with firm confidence, set sail with innovative wisdom, ride the tide of the times, and take practical actions to jointly sail towards the vast blue ocean of high-quality development in the metal materials distribution industry!

I sincerely wish everyone a new year filled with the spirit of the dragon and the horse, embarking on a new journey with vigor, starting a new era with full speed, and achieving new accomplishments with immediate success!

Thank you all!