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At the meeting, Dong Qiang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former secretary of the Party Group and chairman of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, submitted a proposal to change the customs supervision of ship repair scrap steel from "general trade" to "excluding ship repair". He suggested adopting a transitional approach and combining short-term and long-term measures to fundamentally solve the disposal problem of solid waste such as scrap steel generated by ship repair enterprises when repairing foreign ships.

"For a long time, there has been a misunderstanding in defining the nature of ship repair scrap steel. Foreign ship repair scrap steel is regarded as 'imported' and treated as 'general trade' for resource recycling, which has plagued the Chinese ship repair industry with the problem of disposing of ship repair scrap steel." On May 21st, Dong Qiang, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, former secretary of the Party Group and chairman of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, said in an interview with reporters, "As of now, the total amount of solid waste such as scrap steel removed from repairing foreign ships has exceeded 100,000 tons, and it is still increasing. This has made the production and operation of the Chinese ship repair industry face unprecedented difficulties, and it is urgent to solve this problem."

At this year's Two Sessions, Dong Qiang submitted a proposal titled "Revising the Customs Regulation of Ship Repair Scrap Steel from 'General Trade' to 'Except for Ship Repair'". He suggested implementing a transitional approach and combining short-term and long-term measures to fundamentally address the disposal issues of solid waste, such as scrap steel, generated by ship repair enterprises when repairing foreign ships. Dong Qiang believes that the solid waste produced from repairing foreign ships is not "foreign garbage" imported, and should not be regulated under "general trade". Instead, the regulation of scrap steel should be fundamentally adjusted from being mixed under "general trade" to "except for ship repair" as soon as possible. During the transitional phase, solid waste from repairing foreign ships can be handled according to Article 71 of the 2017 No. 194 Order of the General Inspection, which implements the "except for ship repair" principle. Additionally, attention should be paid to the issue of combining short-term and long-term measures. Implementing the "except for ship repair" principle as soon as possible can address the urgent need for disposing of solid waste from ship repair enterprises, but in the long run, policies and regulations on scrap steel should be adjusted in an orderly manner to promote the green development of the ship repair industry, thereby addressing the innovation challenges faced by free trade zones and ports.

The ship repair industry is an important component of the shipbuilding industry and a fundamental guarantee for the safe operation of ships. Over the past four decades since the reform and opening-up, China has become the world's largest ship repair country, with annual ship repair volume accounting for about 40% of the global market share, generating an average annual foreign exchange of approximately 3 billion US dollars, and providing over 50,000 direct jobs (mainly for migrant workers). At the same time, it has provided more employment opportunities in related industries such as machinery and equipment, steel, coatings, environmental protection, logistics, and services. However, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry insiders predict that the ship repair market will not be optimistic in the second half of this year. The ship repair industry will face a more complex external environment, and the issue of ship scrap is becoming a major obstacle that endangers the development of the industry, making the negative impact of the pandemic on the industry more apparent and prominent. "We must pay attention to and solve the practical problems faced by the ship repair industry in its sustained and healthy development," said Dong Qiang. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit China's ship repair industry hard. Protecting and developing the ship repair industry is a specific measure to implement and refine the "six stabilizations" and "six guarantees" proposed by the central government, which is particularly significant for stabilizing employment, growth, and foreign trade. It also provides practical assistance to poverty alleviation and targeted poverty alleviation in impoverished areas. It is hoped that relevant departments will attach great importance to this.

On December 25, 2018, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the General Administration of Customs issued Announcement No. 68 (on adjusting the "Import Waste Management Catalogue"), which transferred solid waste such as scrap steel from foreign ships for repair and demolition from the "Non-restricted Import Solid Waste Catalogue that can be used as raw materials" to the "Restricted Import Solid Waste Catalogue that can be used as raw materials", effective from July 1, 2019. Since the implementation of Announcement No. 68 on July 1, 2019, domestic ship repair enterprises have been restricted in their disposal of scrap steel, and have generally accumulated a large amount of solid waste such as scrap steel from the demolition of foreign ships for repair, which has had a significant impact on their production and operation.