Before 2005, China had always been a net importer of steel and it was only in recent years that there has been a significant increase in the export volume of steel products. This is mainly due to the improvement of the international competitiveness of China's steel products, but also reflects the objective laws of economic globalization and international division of labor. In 2017, the number of Chinese steel exports decreased by 30.5% year-on-year. The development of China's steel industry has never been export-oriented. Not only has trade policies failed to fully reimburse export value-added tax according to international practices, but it has also imposed export tariffs on certain steel products, which has ensured a stable world steel trade.

The rapid development of China's iron and steel industry has created a vast market space for the global steel and related industries, which has led to the growth of the original steel fuel, metallurgical equipment and technical services. In 2017, China imported 1.075 billion tons of iron ore and 69.35 million tons of coking coal, and so on. As a result, the world’s major mining company’s revenue and profits have also increased significantly. At the same time, China also indirectly led imports of steel products from importing countries and regions through the import of electromechanical products. In 2017 alone, China’s imports of machinery and electronic products were as high as USD 854.5 billion.