The steel plant in
Qingshan, was one of the of the
First Five-year plan of China. In 1997, a subsidiary,
Wuhan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. was incorporated to listed Qingshan steel plant in
Shanghai Stock Exchange, while Wuhan Iron and Steel Group was transformed into a holding company, which acquired steel plants in
Ezhou, Hubei Province, and in
Liuzhou, Guangxi Province (sold back to SASAC of Guangxi Province in 2015) and build a new plant in
Fang-cheng-gang, Guangxi Province. In September 2012 Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation agreed to acquire the automotive components manufacturer Tailored Blanks from
ThyssenKrupp for an undisclosed price. At the time of the agreement Tailored Blanks had annual sales of around 700 million euros and a global market share of about 40 percent in
automotive laser-welded blanks. On 21–22 September 2016 the merger plan between Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation and
Baosteel Group was announced. The listed subsidiary, Wuhan Iron and Steel Company, would be taken over by the listed counterpart of Baosteel in an all-share deal, while the rights of unlisted Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation would be transferred to Baosteel Group for free, as both were supervised by the same entity, the
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. The merger of the two parent company was completed in November 2016 and the merger of the two listed subsidiaries was completed in February 2017. Ma Guoqiang, was also promoted back to the new parent company
China Baowu Steel Group as chairman of the board of directors and
the Secretary of the Party Committee. Ma's position in WISCO was replaced by Liu Xiang, the former Deputy
General Manager of WISCO. Liu was also appointed as the Deputy General Manager of China Baowu Steel Group, on top of his position as the highest-ranking officials of WISCO. ==References==