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Ansteel Group
Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel Group in short; less popularly Angang Group) is a Chinese state-owned steel maker. The corporation was under the supervision of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. It is headquartered in Anshan, Liaoning. According to the World Steel Association in 2015, the corporation was the 7th largest manufacturer of steel in the world by production volume.[2] HistoryThe group was formerly Anshan Iron & Steel Works and Showa Steel Works, which was established in 1916 under Japanese rule in Northeast China. Anshan Iron and Steel Company (Angang) was established from the two places in 1948.[3] It was among the formerly Japanese enterprises that was restructured as a Chinese state-owned enterprise when the Nationalist government assumed control of the region from 1946 to 1948.[4]: 4–5 The steel refinery was modified under the aid of Soviet Union as 1 of 156 important construction projects in the First Five-year plan of China. In 1958, prompted by the political movement of the Great Leap Forward, workers at Angang laid out rules to challenge the existing operations of their workplace.[5] These ideas were reflected in the March 11, 1960, "Report of the Anshan City Committee Regarding the Beginning of the Movement for Technological Reform and Technological Revolution."[6] On March 22, 1960, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party approved the document and distributed it to various governmental bodies.[6] Mao Zedong designated the document as the Angang Constitution[6] and stated that its principles should guide the operation of state enterprises.[5] In the early 1960s, Angang supported the construction of Vietnam's first modern steel enterprise, Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company.[4]: 248 It sent experts to the steelworks and trained hundreds of Vietnamese workers. When American attacks later damaged the facilities, Angang worked on the restoration, including through manufacturing essential equipment.[4]: 248 In 1997, a subsidiary Angang Steel was incorporated and listed some of the assets of the group in the stock exchanges. In 2005, a plan to merge Anshan Iron and Steel and Benxi Iron and Steel was announced,[7] but never materialized. In 2010 Panzhihua Iron and Steel was merged into Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation. In August 2021, Ansteel and Angang Group Corporation, began the process of merging and restructuring that will create the world's third-largest steelmaker. According to the deal, Angang will become a subsidiary of Ansteel.[8] Cultural narrativesAcademic Koji Hirata writes, "[T]hrough museums, essays, films, and television series, Angang symbolizes a golden age of Northeastern industry, when the region's SOEs were at the vanguard of China's steelmaking, auto manufacturing, coal mining and other industries vital for building socialism."[4]: 2 The Communist Party portrays the development of Angang and industry in the northeast as part of its history of building the Chinese nation.[4]: 2 See alsoReferences
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