In particular, the central and western regions are forecast to better receive foreign investment relocated from labor-intensive industries in coastal areas where labor costs have increased, they said.

Mexican liquid steel production fell 1.6% to 18.2Mt and consumption 1.3% to 28.1Mt in 2022, affected by a weak construction sector and rising inflation, according to a report by iron and steel chamber Canacero.

Leveraging advantages, inland areas grab competition from big industries.

Exports surged by 28 percent to 1.06 trillion yuan, while imports were recorded at 950 billion yuan, an increase of 14.2 percent.

Their total profits stood at 8.4 trillion yuan in this period, down 4 percent from a year earlier, the NBS data revealed.

Dutch chess player Anish Giri won the prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands on Sunday.

Exports would recover slowly because of the global economic downturn, according to the newspaper.

The daily crude steel output stood at 1.93 million tonnes in early January, according to the China Iron and Steel Association.