Construction on a zero-carbon steel plate factory began Thursday in the port city of Zhanjiang, a production base in Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula.

The project is the first of its kind, a production line that combines hydrogen and electric furnaces for a quick and efficient process to produce high-quality thin steel plates. It's a milestone in the country's steel industry for green and low-carbon transformation and development, said a statement released by Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel on Thursday. Baowu is China's largest listed steelmaker.

Zhanjiang Party secretary Liu Hongbing and Tian Guobing, Party secretary and CEO of Baosteel Zhanjiang, attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the project.

The project, which will cost about 4.5 billion yuan ($642.86 million), mainly includes a 220-ton high-efficiency green electric furnace, refining facilities, a 2,150-mm single stream slab continuous casting machine, and related supporting and auxiliary facilities, said the statement.

The project, which will cost about 4.5 billion yuan ($642.86 million), includes a 220-ton high-efficiency green electric furnace, a 2,150-mm single stream slab continuous casting machine, refining facilities and related supporting and auxiliary facilities, said the statement.

Operations are planned to begin by the end of 2025 with an annual production capacity of approximately 1.8 million tons of zero carbon sheet materials, playing a role in promoting the economic construction in Zhanjiang and the western part of Guangdong province, it said.

After the project starts operating, it will achieve an annual reduction of over 3.14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the entire process, compared with factories of the same production scale.

Subsequently, the project will result in a zero-carbon factory through carbon capture, forest carbon sequestration and related means, it said.