Firmly grasp that “high-quality development” is the fundamental principle for the development of nonferrous metal enterprises in the new era. To harness high-quality development and “build new forms of productive forces,” enterprises must accelerate their transformation toward green, low-carbon, and digital-intelligent development. At this year’s Two Sessions, Duan Xiangdong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Party Secretary and Chairman of Chinalco Group, shared his views on green, low-carbon, and digital-intelligent transformation.

As is well known, China Aluminum Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Chalco”)—as the leading enterprise in China’s nonferrous metals industry—has embarked on a bold exploration of digital and intelligent transformation and has achieved certain successes, setting a new benchmark for high-quality development among nonferrous metals companies. How has Chalco embarked on the path of high-quality development?

Regarding this issue, Committee Member Duan Xiangdong told reporters that Chinalco has always firmly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Closely aligned with the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the manufacturing sector, Chinalco consistently regards digital transformation as a key driving force for promoting technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and high-quality development, comprehensively shaping new momentum for the digital transformation of the nonferrous metals industry. Since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chinalco has launched the “Lvxing Liantong” 1.0 platform, thereby entering the “fast lane” of digital development. To further promote the convergence of various resource elements and the integration of diverse market players, Chinalco has continuously explored and achieved notable results. Currently, Chinalco has successfully upgraded from “Lvxing Liantong” 1.0 to 2.0, with high-quality data at its core, serving over 10,000 internal and external enterprises. In the new wave of digital and intelligent transformation, scientific and technological talent is the key to the development of nonferrous metals enterprises. Seizing the strategic window of opportunity in the development of the artificial intelligence industry, Chinalco fully leverages China’s advantages—such as a complete industrial chain in the nonferrous metals sector, abundant application scenarios, massive data resources, and an exceptionally large market scale—to actively launch the “AI+” initiative. Chinalco has also released “Kunan,” the first large-scale AI model specifically designed for the nonferrous metals industry. By empowering talent, Chinalco provides a platform for scientific and technological professionals to showcase their abilities and drive the rapid advancement of technological achievements. Green development is currently a hot topic in corporate development. According to data collected by DeepSeek on corporate development trends, green development ranks first in search popularity among keywords such as operations, profitability, and corporate governance. Particularly in the nonferrous metals industry, green and low-carbon transformation remains an unwavering pursuit for enterprises. Take Chinalco as an example: in recent years, through in-depth implementation of green and low-carbon transformation initiatives and the establishment of sound mechanisms for green and low-carbon development, Chinalco has achieved year-on-year improvements in carbon reduction. The proportion of green energy used in electrolytic aluminum production has reached a new high, the annual completion rate of mine ecological restoration plans continues to hit record highs, and work toward peaking carbon emissions is steadily advancing, thus driving the nonferrous metals industry toward a transformative leap toward green development. “We are leveraging our own industrial foundation advantages, combining the endowments of green energy resources—such as hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic power—in different regions, and actively promoting the construction of clean energy projects like photovoltaic and wind power, continually increasing the share of green renewable energy. From 2022 to 2024, Chinalco added 374.42 megawatts of new installed capacity, and the total installed capacity of new energy projects now exceeds 3,400 megawatts,” Duan Xiangdong told reporters. Furthermore, Chinalco has innovatively established the Baotou Damao Banner 1,200-megawatt integrated source-grid-load-storage project—a nationally exemplary green energy-electrolytic aluminum industrial base—which was completed at the end of 2024 with an installed capacity of 536 megawatts. Once fully connected to the grid this year, it will reduce carbon emissions by 3.01 million tons annually. Looking ahead, what measures will Chinese nonferrous metals enterprises take to further promote the high-end, green, and intelligent development of the manufacturing sector? Duan Xiangdong explained that manufacturing is the backbone of the national economy—the foundation upon which a country is built, the tool for national prosperity, and the cornerstone for becoming a strong nation. Promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of manufacturing is a crucial pathway to achieving a new type of industrialization and a vital lever for propelling China’s transition from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing powerhouse. Moving forward, Chinalco will focus on achieving high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology within the nonferrous metals industry, and will continue to play a leading role in the new journey of accelerating the high-end, intelligent, and green development of manufacturing, thus upholding the backbone of China’s nonferrous metals industry.