The first China Stainless Steel Tube Summit Forum was held on Dec 12 in Songyang county in Lishui city, East China's Zhejiang province, according to local officials.

They said that experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from all over the country gathered in Songyang to discuss hot issues in the field of stainless steel tubes and to seek new ways to boost  the industry.

Stainless steel tubes produced in Songyang can be seen just about everywhere – including in the stainless steel guardrails in front of the Forbidden City, the oil and gas pipelines used in urban construction, or auto parts in family cars.

Songyang's annual output of stainless steel tubes reached 300,000 tons, with an output value of more than 6 billion yuan ($918 million), accounting for a third of the country's production.

Songyang's stainless steel tube industry was established in 2004. It has developed a comprehensive production and supply chain after 16 years of continuous effort and has developed 200 types of main products.

Songyang has won a number of industry titles including "national stainless steel tube industry quality improvement demonstration zone", "China's stainless steel development outstanding contribution unit" and "Zhejiang Stainless Steel Tube Industry Base".

The county has paid great attention to its energy conservation and to environmental protection in the industry during its development in recent years.

In 2005, it took the lead in the country to carry out centralized treatment of sewage for its stainless steel sector. The related technologies were promoted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In 2010, a project for the "integrated treatment and disposal technology of pickling sludge in the stainless steel industry" was included on the national advanced pollution prevention and control demonstration technology list.

In 2013, a stainless steel bottom sludge temperature reduction treatment project undertaken by Songyang was included in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).

Songyang is now well on the way to being a strong industrial county. It has been accelerating the transformation and upgrading of its stainless steel tube industry, centering on the goal of building a "national high-quality stainless steel tube base" with an annual output value of over 10 billion yuan.

To that end, it will inject strong industrial momentum into the creation of an important demonstration area for ecological civilization development and high-quality green development.

In 2019, the production of its large-scaled manufacturers reached 284,000 tons, with an output value of 6.17 billion yuan, accounting for 42.2 percent of the county's total and providing more than 7,000 jobs.