This year is the sixth time Rio Tinto Group has participated in the CIIE, and this global mining giant also celebrated its 150th birthday.
In many ways, China's success is Rio Tinto's success, and the Chinese market is crucial for us, "said Alf Barrios, Rio Tinto Group's Chief Business Officer and China Chairman, in a recent interview with First Financial News.
Although headquartered in London, the largest single shareholder of Rio Tinto is now a Chinese company - Chinalco Group. The Chinese market contributes more than half of Rio Tinto's revenue and has become an important business partner, talent, and technology source for the company.
From ore trade to joint venture development
More than 120 years ago, Rio Tinto first supplied borate to China from California, USA, opening up trade with China. In 1973, Rio Tinto became the first company to ship iron ore to China, which was sent to Shanghai No.1 Iron and Steel Plant and is now part of Baowu Group.
So far, we have provided China with over 3.5 billion tons of high-quality iron ore and other important metal minerals, supporting China's industrialization and modernization process, "said Bai Ruiming
As the world's largest steel producer, China has a huge demand for the raw material iron ore for steelmaking, and Australia's high-grade iron ore, which is relatively closer to China, has also become the preferred raw material for Chinese steel mills.
In recent years, in addition to supplying iron ore raw materials to Chinese steel mills, Rio Tinto has also established joint ventures with many Chinese companies to jointly develop Australia's mineral resources.
As early as 1987, Rio Tinto established a joint venture with China Steel Group in Western Australia to build China's first major overseas mineral resource investment project.
Last year, Rio Tinto reached a partnership with Baowu Group to establish a joint venture to jointly develop the Pilbara West Slope iron mine in Australia, with a total investment of approximately $2 billion. The company also collaborates with partners such as Baowu and Chinalco to develop high-grade iron ore resources in Simandou, Guinea.
New opportunities in low-carbon transformation
At present, Rio Tinto regards low-carbon transformation as the core of its strategy. We plan to achieve net zero emissions from our operations by 2050 and promise to invest $7.5 billion in emission reduction projects by 2030. "Bai Ruiming told First Financial reporters," We are building 1000 megawatts of solar and wind energy in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which generates approximately 7 times the largest solar power plant in the region
This strategic transformation has also given Rio Tinto a new direction in exploring the Chinese market.
At this year's CIIE, in addition to continuing to showcase its core product portfolio including iron, aluminum, copper, and other metal minerals, Rio Tinto will also showcase for the first time its cutting-edge applications in promoting industry value chain decarbonization.
For example, BioIron Rio Tinto's biomass ironmaking technology uses biomass instead of coking coal as a reducing agent in the steel smelting process, including agricultural by-products such as wheat straw, rapeseed straw, barley straw, or specially grown crops, and converts Pilbara iron ore into metallic iron through microwave energy.
The steel industry is one of the main industries for carbon emissions. Domestic steel giants such as Hegang Group, China Baowu Group, and Ansteel Group are all exploring carbon reduction processes in the steel production process, and more than 50 low-carbon metallurgical technology research and development projects such as Shougang, Jianlong, and Jiugang are also being promoted.
Bai Ruiming believes that the exploration of green technology by Chinese steel companies has shown the potential for further cooperation between the two sides. China has a huge steel production capacity and is the best partner to jointly explore decarbonization technologies and solutions, and promote low-carbon transformation in the industry
Currently, Rio Tinto has started collaborating with domestic steel companies such as Baowu and Shougang to jointly develop carbon reduction plans for the steel industry. For example, in June this year, the company deepened its climate change partnership with Baowu Group and will jointly explore a series of new projects in China and Australia.
The cooperation projects between the two parties include researching, constructing, and demonstrating an experimental scale electric melting furnace at the steel plant of Baowu Group to achieve direct reduced iron (DRI) technology for low-carbon steel production in the production of medium to low grade ores; Optimize Australian ore production pellet technology to support its use as a raw material for low-carbon shaft furnace production of direct reduced iron, and jointly study opportunities for green low-carbon ironmaking in Western Australia.
The vast majority of iron ore in the world is of medium to low grade, and the cooperation with Baowu aims to open up low-carbon pathways for these iron ores, "said Bai Ruiming.
In addition, the company has established the Tsinghua Rio Tinto Joint Research Center on Resources, Energy, and Sustainable Development with Tsinghua University to provide research results and policy recommendations for the industry, and has established the China Technology and Innovation Center in Beijing. Recently, the China Center for Technology and Innovation signed an agreement with Sichuan University to collaborate on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology projects.
Recently, China has further optimized its business environment and increased its efforts to attract foreign investment, introducing 24 targeted policy measures. These are important signals of China's commitment to promoting trade and encouraging the sustainable development of foreign-funded enterprises in China. "Bai Ruiming told First Financial Times that in May this year, Rio Tinto signed a contract with the China International Import Expo Bureau, Becoming the first Fortune Global 500 company to promise to continue participating in the CIIE in the next 5 years.