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Historic Profile of Jianlong Iron and Steel - China

History of Jianlong History of Jianlong Steel

In 2022, Jianlong in Tangshan (Hebei Province) was the 8th largest steelmaker in the world and produced over 36 million tonnes (mt) of steel.

Jianlong Steel is a subsidiary of the Beijing Jianlong Group.

Jianlong Steel Group Timeline

  • Foundation and Initial Rescue (2000-2002): Established from near-bankrupt Zunhua Steel, acquired struggling Mingcheng Steel operations
  • Mining and Steel Expansion (2003): Launched Huaxia Jianlong mining division, rescued Heilongjiang Steel to expand northern operations
  • Diversification Strategy (2006-2008): Entered shipbuilding via Yangfan acquisition, established Ningbo joint venture, founded Hong Xiang Shipping subsidiary
  • Energy and Failed Expansion (2009): Established Tianjin EV Energies and Xiangwei Transmission, abandoned Tonghua takeover after worker unrest and management murder
  • Major Steel Acquisitions (2015-2021): Acquired Shanxi Haixin Iron and Steel Group, became controlling shareholder in Malaysia's ESSB, took trustee management of Wenshui Haiwei, announced Xingtai Steel takeover
  • International and Technology Focus (2023): Purchased $980m stakes from Fosun International in four industrial firms, signalled expansion plans into Kazakhstan steel production, subsidiary abandoned Hismelt technology for conventional blast furnaces
  • Product Upgrades and Green Partnerships (2024-2026): High-end seamless tube production, approved supplier to BYD, electrification pact with battery maker CATL
Timeline shows transformation from distressed asset rescue to major Chinese steelmaker through strategic acquisitions and diversification. Demonstrates successful turnaround model applied across multiple failing steel operations.

The timeline below covers the history of the firm.

  • 2000: Jianlong Steel established from Zunhua Steel.
  • 2002: Acquires near-bankrupt Mingcheng Steel.
  • 2003: Huaxia Jianlong established.
  • 2003: Acquires near-bankrupt Heilongjiang Steel.
  • 2006: Acquires Yangfan shipbuilder.
  • 2006: Sets up Ningbo-Jianlong joint venture.
  • 2008: Subsidiary company Hong Xiang Shipping Co Ltd founded December 2008.
  • 2009: Tianjin EV Energies Co and Xiangwei Transmission Co established.
  • 2009: Planned takeover of Tonghua by Jianlong Group is abandoned.
  • 2015: Acquires Shanxi Haixin Iron and Steel Group in September 2015.
  • 2018: Jianlong becomes controlling shareholder (60%) in ESSB.
  • 2020: Signs trustee management agreement with Wenshui Haiwei I&S.
  • 2021: Announces takeover of Xingtai Steel.
  • 2022: Signals plan to build 600MW energy storage base in Heilongjiang.
  • 2023: Fosun sells stakes in 4 industrial firms to Jianlong for $980m.
  • 2023: Subsidiary firm Fushun New Iron & Steel abandons Hismelt for new BFs.
  • 2023: Signals intention to invest in steel production in Kazakhstan.
  • 2024: Successfully commences production of high-end seamless steel tubes.
  • 2025: Chengde Jianlong Special Steel becomes Approved Supplier of BYD.
  • 2026: Signs strategic cooperation agreement with battery maker CATL.

Notes
  • In 1998, the predecessor of Jianlong Steel known as Zunhua Steel was on the verge of bankruptcy. Steel salesman Zhang Zhixiang borrowed funds in order to lease the assets of Zunhua Steel for 5 years. He then purchased the company and changed its name to Jianlong Steel in the year 2000.
  • 2003: Huaxia was established to develop in ore mining and dressing, mineral resource prospecting, mine design, mine investment, mineral products processing, sales, etc in iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum and coal in the Provinces of Neimeng, Qinghai, Yunnan, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Heibei, Xinjiang.
  • 2003: Jianlong Steel acquired Heilongjiang Steel in mid-2003 to create the Heilongjiang Jianlong Iron and Steel Co Ltd, with a head office in Shuangyashan. The firm produces iron and steel and also manufactures ferroalloys.
  • In 2006, Jianlong Iron & Steel Co Ltd signed a deal with the Zhoushan municipal government to purchase State-owned shares in the Yangfan Group and thus enter into the shipbuilding sector in Zhejiang Province. The plan at the time was for Jianlong to establish support facilities for marine diesel and electromechanical equipment and also to gradually increase Yangfan's shipbuilding capacity. At the time of the share purchase, Yangfan had three large shipbuilding production lines with a capacity of 350,000 DWT per year.
  • 2006: The Ningbo-Jianlong joint venture was a 4mt / year blast furnace based plate mill investment in Zhejiang Province.
  • 2008: Hong Xiang Shipping Co is a Hong Kong based subsidiary, with a branch in Beijing.
  • 2009: Tianjin EV Energies Co Ltd is a producer of lithium batteries for the automotive sector. The Xiangwei Transmission Co Ltd manufactures wind power transmission gear boxes and gears.
  • In 2009, Tonghua Steel was in severe cash flow difficulties, and takeover by Jianlong was proposed as the solution to this problem. Fearful for their jobs, workers from state-owned Tonghua however murdered takeover manager Chen Guojun in July 2009 when restructuring plans at Tonghua were first announced. Local government officials then cancelled the proposed takeover deal. Tonghua Steel was instead acquired by China's Shougang Steel in mid-2010.
  • 2015: Newly-acquired Shanxi Haixin Iron and Steel Group is renamed as the Shanxi Jian Long Iron and Steel Company.
  • 2016: Shanxi Haixin Iron & Steel restarts steel production, some months after its acquisition by the Jianlong Steel Group. Once China's largest steelmaker, Shanxi Haixin halted steel production in March 2014 due to the excess capacity in the domestic steel industry.
  • 2018: The Hiap Teck Venture Bhd disposed of a 20% stake in Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd (ESSB) to China's Jianlong for 225.6 million yuan in April 2018. Prior to this disposal, Jianlong had a 40% ownership stake in ESSB.
  • 2020: Wenshui Haiwei Iron & Steel halted production in November 2018 in order to implement a series of environmental protection improvement projects. This modernisation work was however brought to a halt in May 2019 when a controller of Jianlong Steel was detained pending an investigation into certain irregularities. Subsequently, Wenshui country government appointed an expert panel to review options for recommencement of production at the steel mill. This panel determined that the preferred way forward was for the Shanxi Jianlong Group to take over operation and trustee management of the works.
  • 2021: Xingtai Iron and Steel (Xingtai Steel) is a leading specialty longs producer and at the time of takeover had an annual capacity of 3 million mt of specialty wire rod (including cold heading steel, spring steel, bearing steel and tyre cord steel).
  • 2022: The energy storage project is expected to require a total investment of 2.88 billion yuan. It will involve construction of a 600MW vanadium battery production line. The annual energy storage scale will be 2.5GWh.
  • 2023: Sales by troubled Chinese conglomerate Fosun International to Jianlong Steel include stakes of 25.7 percent in Tianjin Jianlong Iron & Steel Industrial and 26.7 percent each in Jianlong Steel Holdings, Beijing Northern Jianlong Industrial and Janeboat Holdings.
  • 2023: Jianlong subsidiary company Fushun New Iron & Steel was to have invested in new Hismelt technology, which was to have been commissioned in 2025. In Q4 2023 however the firm announced that it would instead be investing in two blast furnaces with hot metal capacity of ~ 5 mt / year.
  • 2024: This step required technical breakthroughs in the production of high-grade pipe billets as well as seamless steel pipes. Jianlong Steel will now be able to meet the demanding end user requirements of pipe segments such as pipeline pipes for transportation, gas cylinder pipes, hydraulic support pipes, cylinder pipes, oil cracking pipes, and axle pipes.
  • 2025: Chengde Jianlong Special Steel Co.Ltd - as a subsidiary of Jianlong Steel - is a producer of specialty steels including engineering steel.
  • 2026: The agreement with CATL was signed in Ningde, Fujian on April 10, 2026. It covers new energy in steelmaking, green smart mines, logistics electrification, zero-carbon parks and supply chain coordination, with CATL supplying power batteries and battery charging and swapping solutions for equipment including electric mining trucks and heavy trucks.