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“The 14th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial stage for the transformation and upgrading of China’s calcium carbide industry, as it moves toward higher-quality development. Faced with the increasing constraints imposed by resources and the environment, as well as the ongoing pursuit of the \"dual carbon\" goals, the entire industry has relied on technological innovation as its core driving force, pursuing development in the directions of greening, intelligence, and intensification. Significant progress has been made in areas such as optimizing the industrial structure, making breakthroughs in key technologies, fostering coordination within industrial chains, advancing digital transformation, and improving safety standards, thereby laying a solid foundation for sustainable development. The industrial structure continues to improve, with a significant increase in concentration. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the calcium carbide industry advanced supply-side structural reforms by adopting a two-pronged approach of phasing out outdated technologies and promoting high-quality development, thereby achieving systematic optimization of the industrial structure. According to statistics from the China Calcium Carbide Industry Association, a total of 4.3 million tons of outdated production capacity was phased out across the industry, while 6.3 million tons of high-quality production capacity was added. As a result, the total production capacity increased from 40 million tons in 2020 to 42 million tons by 2024. The optimization of the production capacity structure has improved the operational efficiency of the facilities; in 2021, the industry’s operating rate rose to 78%. The output of calcium carbide increased from 28.88 million tons to 31.08 million tons, a growth rate of 7.6%, and apparent consumption also increased by 7.6%, resulting in a more balanced supply and demand structure. Both enterprise size and industry concentration have increased. The number of enterprises in this industry decreased from 120 to 116, while the average production capacity per enterprise rose to 362,000 tons, an increase of 8.7% ； The average output increased to 268,000 tons per farm, an increase of 11.2%. By the end of 2024, the capacity concentration among the top 10 companies in this industry reached 45.3%, while their share of production was 52%. Resources continued to flow toward large enterprises that possess advantages in technology, management, and environmental protection, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of the industry. The industrial layout has become more rational. Relying on their resource advantages and the synergies within industrial chains, the northwestern region has developed industrial clusters centered around Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu. In 2024, the production of calcium carbide in these five provinces and regions reached 26.73 million tons, accounting for 86% of the country’s total production. Leading enterprises generally establish an integrated industrial chain of \"coal–electricity–calcium carbide–chlor-alkali chemicals/1,4-butanediol (BDO) chemicals\" to achieve efficient conversion of resources and hierarchical utilization of energy. The digital transformation is advancing at full pace, leading to a significant increase in production efficiency. The calcium carbide industry regards digital transformation as a key strategy for enhancing its competitiveness, and it promotes the extensive use of intelligent manufacturing technologies in critical processes. Companies such as Zhongtai Chemical and Shandong Xinfafa were among the first to implement intelligent control systems that incorporate technologies such as big data self-learning and digital twins, enabling precise adjustment of process parameters and optimization of the entire production process; this has effectively improved the stability and security of the systems. In terms of equipment upgrades, robot coverage has been achieved across all areas, with the level of intelligence continuing to improve. Equipment such as automatic electrode shell production lines, intelligent transfer systems, unmanned vehicles, and inspection robots are widely used to achieve the goal of replacing human labor with machinery and reducing the need for manual work through automation. Enterprises such as Inner Mongolia Baiyan Lake and Junzheng Energy use a central control platform to coordinate the operation of robot fleets, resulting in a productivity increase of over 50% per workstation. This approach not only reduces the workload and improves the working conditions but also helps to prevent safety risks. Significant achievements have been made in technological innovation, with breakthroughs in key processes. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the industry carried out numerous technical initiatives aimed at achieving greener and lower-carbon practices as well as improving energy efficiency. Key technologies such as clean incineration of purification ash, resource utilization of calcium carbide slag to produce calcium oxide, recovery of waste heat from furnace gases, and pneumatic transportation of powdered materials have been put into industrial use. Positive progress has been made in the development of new processes such as pyrolyzed pellets and granular calcium carbide, providing technical support for optimizing the raw material structure and reducing energy consumption. The level of process equipment has improved significantly; the operation rate of mainstream units has generally risen to over 98.5%, while the operation rate of advanced units has reached a new industry high of 99.8%. In processes such as lime kilns and charcoal drying, low-nitrogen combustion and waste heat recovery technologies are widely applied to ensure that pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide are emitted at levels within specified limits, thereby promoting the industry toward cleaner production. Significant achievements have been made in reducing emissions and adopting low-carbon practices; the energy structure continues to improve. In line with the \"dual carbon\" goals, the calcium carbide industry is accelerating its efforts toward greener transformation. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the average comprehensive energy consumption per ton of calcium carbide across the industry is expected to drop below 850 kilograms of standard coal, with the process energy consumption per ton kept within 3,100 kilowatt-hours. The development of green manufacturing systems is being accelerated; a total of 7 enterprises have been recognized as **-level green factories, while 12 have been designated as provincial-level green factories, thus creating a group of industry leaders in terms of energy and water consumption metrics. The level of comprehensive resource utilization is steadily improving, with more and more ways being developed for the recycling of solid waste such as powder materials, dust collection ash, and purified ash. The proportion of green energy usage is continuing to increase; in some companies, the share of green electricity in their consumption has exceeded 30%. Companies such as Ordos Chemical and Xinjiang Tianye are planning to develop new energy and energy storage projects to facilitate the integrated development model of \"green electricity + calcium carbide\". The safety level of systems is continuously improving, with inherent safety being enhanced further. The intelligent management system based on \"Industrial Internet + safe production\" has been widely deployed in various industries, enabling real-time monitoring and intelligent early warning of equipment status, personnel behavior, and environmental parameters. The use of equipment such as intelligent inspection robots, infrared thermal imaging, and eagle-eye surveillance systems has significantly improved the ability to identify faults and prevent risks, resulting in a marked reduction in the incidence of serious accidents. Intrinsic safety upgrades are carried out simultaneously, and devices such as remote furnace door operation and intelligent liquid level monitoring for calcium carbide transfer cars are widely adopted, effectively eliminating the risk of manual operations in high-temperature and high-hazard environments. Companies such as Shaanxi Jintai have established intelligent security systems to enable predictive maintenance and emergency response, providing a solid foundation for the stable operation of the industry. Author: Jiang Shunping, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Calcium Carbide Industry Association