Original: Shenzhen ningnanshan source: ningnanshan
I have always been interested in the history of China’s national industry. I recently inquired about the history of the steel industry. Everyone knows that at the beginning of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, China was poor and white. I have written an article about the output of China’s main industrial products in 1952. I believe you still have an impression. You can see here:
China’s industrial history — the output of China’s main industrial products in 1952 was queried
Here, we can also look at the development of China’s steel industry and compare it with that of Japan, India and Australia in the Asia Pacific region. We can get a glimpse of China’s modernization development process. The data are from official statistics of various countries.
Why should we compare the steel industry? Because when we look at a country’s industrial added value, we can first look at the import of energy and raw materials, mainly coal, oil and steel. It should be noted here that since the level of science and technology in Europe, the United States and the Soviet Union was much higher than that in China at that time, even if we consumed the same amount of energy and raw materials as theirs, that is to say, consumed the same amount of energy and raw materials, Their industrial added value will also be much higher than ours.
In terms of oil, at the beginning of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, China was an oil poor country. Even in 1952, when the national economy had fully recovered, the oil output was only 435000 tons. Yumen oil field in Gansu was the largest oil field in China at that time. Oil can’t be self-sufficient, and it needs to be imported from abroad. This creates a big problem. Without oil, the large-scale automobile industry can’t develop, because the cars you build can’t use oil, It also directly affects the national transportation and logistics, because the railway can only bear a part of the freight volume.
According to the statistical bulletin on the development of the transportation industry in 2021 issued by the Ministry of transport, in 2021, the national commercial freight volume was 52.16 billion tons, an increase of 12.3% year-on-year. Among them, roads assumed 75% of the freight volume, water transport assumed 15.8% of the freight volume, railways assumed 9.2% of the freight volume, and airlines assumed 0.01%. This shows the importance of road transport.
Not only that, the lack of oil also directly leads to the failure of the large-scale petrochemical industry. Plastic, rubber, chemical fiber, asphalt, lubricating oil, and even our daily washing liquid, shampoo, and cosmetics will all use various derivatives generated after oil processing. At the beginning of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, the output of plastics and chemical fiber industry was very low because there was no precious petroleum raw materials.
Similarly, as raw materials, the steel industry is also widely used in military industry, construction, power bridges and other infrastructure, engineering machinery, automobiles, trains and locomotives, aircraft, ships, machine tools, electronic products, etc. Therefore, low steel consumption can also indicate that a country’s industrial added value is certainly low. Therefore, this article looks at the comparison of steel production between China and major Asian countries in the 20th century. Of course, Australia is also included here for comparison.
In 1934, the steel output was 50000 tons in China, 810000 tons in India, 526000 tons in Australia and 3.844 million tons in Japan;
We can see that at this time, China’s steel output is not on the same level as that of India, Australia and Japan. Asia shows that Japan is far ahead, Australia and India are the second echelon, and China’s output is very low. At that time, China’s national government took the route of light industry priority. In fact, in my opinion, if we look at it purely from the economic perspective, there is no problem with light industry priority, However, the problem is that heavy industry is directly related to national defense strength. At that time, when China was facing a very serious national crisis caused by Japanese invasion, it was very dangerous for heavy industry not to develop, because steel is the food of industry, and military weapons depend on the metal raw materials provided by the steel industry.
In 1935, the steel output was 257000 tons in China, 876000 tons in India, 708000 tons in Australia and 4.704 million tons in Japan;
China’s steel output soared this year, mainly from Japan’s Showa steel in Anshan. In fact, China’s sovereignty over Northeast China had been taken away before the September 18 Incident. Before September 18, almost 100% of the iron ore in Northeast China was under Japanese control (it was written in Chinese textbooks that the Japanese controlled 96% of China’s iron ore production capacity at that time). Japan established Anshan Iron Works as early as 1918, The iron ore was processed into iron metal. In 1933, the Showa iron and Steel Institute was established, and the Showa iron and Steel Institute was merged to manufacture crude steel. Therefore, China’s steel output increased in 1935, but this is an illusion, not because of the rapid development of China’s national steel industry, but because of the increase of Japanese factory steel output.
In 1936, the steel output was 414000 tons in China, 880000 tons in India, 833000 tons in Australia and 5.223 million tons in Japan;
In 1937, the steel output was 558000 tons in China, 910000 tons in India, 1.106 million tons in Australia and 5.801 million tons in Japan; Japan was the first country in Asia with a steel output exceeding 1 million tons, reaching 1 million tons for the first time in 1924, while Australia’s steel output exceeded 1 million tons for the first time in 1937.
However, it is not necessary to mention here that the Central Iron and steel plant prepared by the national government since 1936 ordered equipment capable of producing 100000 tons of steel from Germany. Chiang Kai Shek attached great importance to this project. If it was completed, it would be China’s largest national industrial iron and steel plant. However, it had to be suspended because of Japan’s full-scale invasion of China in 1937, but the group of talents sent to Germany for training because of the need to build the plant, In the future, most of them became veterans and experts of China’s steel industry. The following picture is a photo of the personnel sent by the national government to study in Germany. Among them, Jin Shuliang, Wang Zhixi and Shao Xianghua were selected as the first members of the academic department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (later renamed academicians) in 1955. Later, Mao Helian was also selected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.
In 1938, the steel output was 875000 tons in China, 952000 tons in India, 1.199 million tons in Australia and 6.472 million tons in Japan;
China’s data this year seems to have problems. The output of 875000 tons was a lot more than that of the previous year, but it was more than 500000 tons in 1939. But the book did write this number. I guess it was a typographical error. China’s output should be 675000 tons.
In 1939, the steel output was 522000 tons in China, 1.067 million tons in India, 1.202 million tons in Australia and 6.696 million tons in Japan;
In that year (1939), India’s steel output exceeded 1 million tons for the first time in history. In this way, Japan’s steel output in 1924, Australia’s in 1937 and India’s in 1939 all exceeded 1 million tons, while China’s steel output never exceeded 1 million tons before the founding of the people’s Republic of China.
In 1940, the steel output was 534000 tons in China, 1.312 million tons in India, 1.326 million tons in Australia and 6.856 million tons in Japan;
In 1941, the steel output was 576000 tons in China, 1.43 million tons in India, 1.7 million tons in Australia and 6.844 million tons in Japan; In 1942, the steel output was 765000 tons in China, 1.364 million tons in India, 1.793 million tons in Australia and 7.044 million tons in Japan; In 1943, the steel output was 923000 tons in China, 1.425 million tons in India, 1.72 million tons in Australia and 7.82 million tons in Japan; In this year, China’s steel output reached the highest level before the founding of the people’s Republic of China. Most of the output came from Anshan City, Liaoning Province, under the control of Japan, but it still did not exceed the level of 1 million tons. Japan reached a surprising steel output of 7.82 million tons in this year, which also reached the historical peak level of Japan during the Second World War. India and Australia both reached the level of 1 million tons +.
In 1944, the steel output was 491000 tons in China, 1.39 million tons in India, 1.613 million tons in Australia and 5.914 million tons in Japan; It can be seen that in 1944, when the United States carried out an all-round air raid on Japan, Japan’s war potential was already declining sharply,
Moreover, Japan’s overseas factories were also attacked by air raids. On July 29, 1944, 72 us B-29s bombed the Anshan Showa steel plant for the first time. Since then, they have bombed many times, which dealt a heavy blow to Japan’s steel production. The steel output of Anshan Showa steel fell sharply, directly resulting in a 46.8% drop in China’s national steel output over the previous year.
In 1945, the steel output was 260000 tons in China, 1.388 million tons in India, 1.413 million tons in Australia and 2.082 million tons in Japan; In August of that year, Japan was defeated in the war, coupled with the large-scale bombing by the US military, and the equipment and factory buildings were damaged. The steel output of Japan dropped sharply to the level of 2 million tons. In August of the same year, the Soviet army marched into northeast China, and Showa steel in Anshan was occupied and stopped by the Soviet army. More than 70000 tons of equipment was removed, Japanese technicians and managers were also withdrawn, and the factory was paralyzed.
In 1946, the steel output was 16000 tons in China, 1.314 million tons in India, 1.104 million tons in Australia and 564000 tons in Japan. It can be seen that if Japan could still organize production in January August 1945 despite large-scale air raids, then Japan’s steel output fell to a low point in 1946, falling to less than 1 million tons. And China’s steel output has also revealed its original shape. With the withdrawal of Japanese technology and management personnel from Anshan, and the destruction and dismantling of factories and equipment by the Soviet Union, not only Anshan, Shijingshan steel plant controlled by Japan in North China, Tianjin, Shanxi and other steel plants have been shut down, but also the steel plants in Southwest China controlled by the Kuomintang have been stagnated, As a result, China’s steel output dropped sharply to only 16000 tons. This figure is even less than China’s steel production during World War I.
In 1947, the steel output was 63000 tons in China, 1.277 million tons in India, 1.36 million tons in Australia and 941000 tons in Japan; In 1948, the steel output was 44000 tons in China, 1.277 million tons in India, 1.401 million tons in Australia and 1.715 million tons in Japan; In 1949, the steel output was 158000 tons in China, 1.374 million tons in India, 1.227 million tons in Australia and 3.111 million tons in Japan; In the year of the founding of new China, Anshan was liberated in November 1948. After organizing and resuming production, Anshan Steel finally resumed production in 1949. On April 25, 1949, the No. 2 open hearth furnace, which made 100 tons of steel, resumed production, producing the first furnace of steel after the liberation of Anshan steel; The commencement ceremony of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. held on July 9, 1949 marked that Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. entered a period of comprehensive recovery at a miraculous speed. As the output of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. began to recover, the annual steel output of Liaoning Province reached 114000 tons in that year, and China’s steel output recovered to 158000 tons in 1949. But at that time, it was still far behind Japan, India and Australia.
There were no statistical data in China in 1950 and 1951. In 1952, the steel output was 1.349 million tons in China, 1.603 million tons in India, 1.577 million tons in Australia and 4.839 million tons in Japan; After the founding of the people’s Republic of China, China decided to fully concentrate resources on the restoration and reconstruction of Angang. In March 1950, China and the Soviet Union signed the agreement between the Soviet Union and the people’s Republic of China on technical assistance for the restoration and reconstruction of Angang. A large number of Soviet experts and technicians began to enter Angang to guide technical transformation and capacity upgrading, which was earlier than the start of the first five year plan. Not only did Anshan Iron and Steel Corporation resume production and expand its scale, but also the iron and steel industry in all parts of the country began to develop. The following figure shows the workers of Anshan Iron and Steel Corporation working in 1950.
In 1952, the steel output of Liaoning Province reached 941000 tons, while the steel output of other parts of the country also reached 439000 tons, with a total output of 1.349 million tons, exceeding the historical highest level of 923000 tons in 1943 before the founding of the people’s Republic of China.
I looked at the distribution of the national iron and steel industry in 1952. Liaoning Province’s output of 941000 tons accounted for 69.7% of the country, ranking first in the country. 92% of Liaoning’s output came from Angang. In addition, Benxi Coal and iron company (later renamed Benxi Iron and Steel Company) also produced 21000 tons of special steel.
The steel output of Shanxi Province is 92200 tons, ranking second in the country, accounting for 6.83% of the country.
The steel output of Shanxi Province mainly comes from Taiyuan Iron and steel plant, which is today Taiyuan Iron and steel group. In 1952, the factory produced the first furnace of stainless steel in China. The plant was built by Yan Xishan, a warlord of Shanxi Province. Construction began in August 1934. At that time, it was called the northwest steel plant. It was put into operation in October 1937. It was a joint steel production enterprise. However, it was occupied by Japan after the full outbreak of the war of resistance against Japan. After the victory of the war of resistance against Japan, it returned to China.
Before liberation, the plant had a maximum annual output of 16000 tons of steel and 43000 tons of iron. Later, China invited Soviet experts to the plant for guidance. In October 1949, eight Soviet experts, including Morcerf, arrived in Taiyuan to help Shanxi’s industrial construction. Three of them were sent to work in Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. later, Soviet experts who came to Shanxi gradually increased to help expand production. Taiyuan Iron and steel plant was also listed in one of 156 major projects.
In 1952, Shanghai’s steel output reached 71400 tons, accounting for 5.3% of the country, ranking third in the country,
The steel works in Shanghai are two plants of Shanghai Iron and steel company.
The predecessor of the first plant of Shanghai Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was the Wusong steelmaking plant established by Nippon Steel Co., Ltd. in November 1938. After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, the plant was named the first plant of Shanghai Iron and steel company. The following picture shows the first plant of Shanghai Iron and steel company in 1948.
The third plant of Shanghai Iron and steel company, formerly known as Hexing iron plant, was founded in March of the second year of the Republic of China (1913) and put into operation in 1919. At the beginning, it only produced iron. In 1922, it was renamed Hexing iron and steel plant. It was the largest private iron and steel plant in China before liberation. Due to the excess iron after the end of World War I, the impact of the price reduction of imported bamboo steel from the United States, and the influence of the warlord melee in the third Jiangsu and Zhejiang war, Moreover, it could not get the financial support of the national government, so after several ups and downs and equity changes, it finally restarted production in 1935. By 1937, when the war of resistance against Japan broke out, it had made 20000 tons of steel in two years, and the annual output reached the level of 10000 tons. It was gradually on the right track. However, when the war of resistance broke out, although it contacted the Consulates General of Britain and Germany to ease relations and fly the national flag, and posted a notice signed by the German and British consuls, I tried to disguise myself as a foreign-funded enterprise, but in the end, I was found out by the Japanese and finally occupied by them. After the victory of the war of resistance against Japan, I returned to China.
Since there are one factory and three factories, is there a second factory? Of course, the predecessor of the second plant of Shanghai Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was the Huangxing Road rolling workshop of Asiatic Steel Co., Ltd., which was built in February 1942. It is the first steel wire factory in China. You can see from the name that it was built by the Japanese. However, this factory does not make steel, but produces steel such as wire rod (such as wire rope).
In addition, before the liberation of Shanghai, there was a national industrial steel-making plant, called Shanghai steel-making plant, which was the first steel-making plant in Shanghai established during the Qing Dynasty. Some people believe that it is the first steel-making plant in China (controversial). At first, it was a steel-making plant under the Jiangnan manufacturing Bureau. Later, it was independently built as a Shanghai steel-making plant. When the war of resistance against Japan broke out, it first moved to Hanyang and then to Chongqing, becoming a part of today’s Chongqing Steel Company.
In 1952, the steel output of Tianjin reached 69800 tons, accounting for 5.2% of the country, ranking fourth in the country,
Tianjin’s steel output mainly comes from Tianjin Iron and steel works, which is today’s Tianjin Iron and steel group. Its predecessor was the Zhongshan Steel Institute opened by Japan in Tianjin in 1935. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Resources Committee of the Kuomintang government took over a number of steel mills run by the Japanese, including Zhongshan steel, and established the Tianjin steel works.
Hebei’s steel output in 1952 reached 66100 tons, accounting for 4.9% of the country, ranking fifth in the country,
Hebei’s output mainly comes from Tangshan Iron and steel plant, which is now Tangshan Iron and Steel Company of Hebei Iron and steel group. Tangshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was founded in 1943 by the Japanese. At that time, it was called Tangshan steel making Institute. By March 1945, the steel-making workshop, steel rolling workshop and electromechanical workshop had been built one after another, and the main equipment had been gradually installed in place.
In 1950, it was changed to “Tangshan Steel Plant”. In 1952, Tangshan Steel took the lead in successfully testing the “side blown alkaline converter steelmaking method” in China. This steel-making method has the characteristics of short smelting time, high production efficiency, simple equipment and low energy consumption. It is highly valued by the state and awarded the “national invention”. Tangshan Iron and steel plant is thus known as the “hometown of converter” of the iron and steel industry of the Republic.
In 1952, Chongqing’s steel output reached 48000 tons, accounting for 3.6% of the country, ranking sixth in the country.
The steel plants in Chongqing mainly come from Chongqing Iron and steel company, which was dominated by Hanyang Iron Works when the war of resistance against Japan broke out. In addition, Hubei Daye Iron Works (built in 1913 and affiliated to Daye Iron Mine, Hanyeping company has Hanyang Iron Works, Daye Iron Mine and Pingxiang coal mine, which are a joint steel and iron production enterprise), Shanghai steel works and Hankou Liuhegou iron works (built in 1911) were relocated to Chongqing and merged, During the Anti Japanese War, it produced more than 90% of the steel in the rear area, and later developed into Chongqing Iron and steel company.
At the beginning of 1952, Chongqing Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. undertook the task of rolling all the rails required for the 505 km line of Chengdu Chongqing railway, and completed the production task in May of the same year. For this reason, the Ministry of heavy industry of the Central People’s government sent representatives to the factory to issue the first prize certificate, which is also the first certificate issued by the Ministry of heavy industry after the founding of new China.
Of course, in addition to the above, we have to mention the iron and steel industry in Beijing at the beginning of the founding of the people’s Republic of China. In 1952, Shijingshan iron and steel plant achieved a pig iron output of more than 342000 tons, 56000 tons more than the total output in the 30 years before liberation, ranking second in the country after Angang.
However, it should be noted that the Shijingshan iron and steel plant could not produce steel at that time and could only make iron, so it was not included in the national steel output statistics. However, from the perspective of scale, the steel plant was not small. By the end of 1952, the total number of employees of Shijingshan iron and steel plant had increased from 5067 in 1949 to 12297.
The Shijingshan iron and steel plant was built in 1919. At that time, the Beiyang government officially established Longyan iron ore Co., Ltd. to build the Shijingshan refinery. However, due to the sharp drop in steel prices after the end of World War I and the factional melee within the Beiyang warlords, the construction was soon stopped. Later, Japan occupied the plant and began iron smelting after its all-round invasion of China in 1937.
Shijingshan iron and steel plant later developed into today’s capital iron and steel company.
Therefore, on the whole, in the early days of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, when Angang concentrated resources to resume production,
By 1952, the steel output of Liaoning province accounted for 69.7% of that of the whole country;
The steel output of Tianjin, Shanxi and Hebei provinces in North China also accounts for 16.93% of the country’s, and North China is the second largest steel base in the country after Northeast China;
Shanghai and Chongqing are also industrial cities with steel output of 71400 tons and 48000 tons respectively, and these two cities together produce 8.9% of the country’s steel.
However, I would like to stress here that although six provinces and cities, Liaoning, Shanxi, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hebei and Chongqing, are all producing and manufacturing steel, and although Japan is building so many steel factories (Tangshan, Liaoning, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, etc.),
However, at the beginning of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, the Chinese technical experts of the major domestic steel mills were trained by the national steel mills, especially the central steel plant prepared in 1936 (the construction of the central steel plant was suspended because of the full outbreak of the war of resistance against Japan in 1937). They were sent to Germany for training. After returning home, they grew up in various steel mills in the rear area centered on Chongqing during the war of resistance against Japan. Later, after the victory of the war of resistance against Japan, they were responsible for receiving various steel mills in the occupied area, These people are also the main force to receive and learn from the Soviet Union’s iron and steel technology. China’s iron and steel metallurgy academicians are also talents trained by these national iron and steel industries. It should be said that our struggle against Japan has preserved hope for the national industry.
Let’s take another look. In 1953, China’s steel output was 1.774 million tons, India’s was 1.531 million tons, Australia’s was 1.859 million tons, and Japan’s was 6.502 million tons; In that year, China’s steel output exceeded that of India. At the same time, China’s steel output of 2.225 million tons in 1954 exceeded that of Australia’s 2.179 million tons, ranking second only to Japan.
In 1957, the steel output was 5.35 million tons in China, 1.742 million tons in India, 2.849 million tons in Australia and 12.57 million tons in Japan; This year, China’s first five year plan was completed, and the steel output exceeded 5 million tons, which has exceeded the sum of Australia and India.
It is worth noting that in 1957, China’s steel output rose from the 18th in the world in 1952 to the 9th in the world, of which Liaoning Province alone reached 3.382 million tons, more than three times the highest level of national steel output (923000 tons) before the founding of the people’s Republic of China. The steel output of other provinces in China has also reached about 1.97 million tons, that is to say, even excluding Liaoning Province, the steel output of other provinces has been more than twice the highest level before the founding of the people’s Republic of China, which shows the scale of the first five year plan for China’s industrialization.
However, China’s steel output in that year was still less than 50% of Japan’s, only equivalent to Japan’s steel output in 1936, but also significantly higher than that in 1934-1949 before the founding of the people’s Republic of China, which accounted for only 12.5% of Japan’s steel output. However, after 1957, China took some detours, and it was almost 40 years later that the steel output finally caught up with that of Japan in the 1990s.