A LIST of 45 Chinese steel enterprises that meet national iron and steel industrial standards was published yesterday in the latest move to tackle excess production capacity that has plagued the sector.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement that the listed enterprises are up to standards regarding product quality, environmental protection, energy consumption, workmanship and equipment, production scale as well as work safety and other social responsibility.

The 45 qualified steelmakers consist of 30 state-owned enterprises like Baosteel and Angang Steel, and 15 private companies, whose combined crude steel output last year reached 300 million tons, or 41.4 percent of the country's total steel output, according to the ministry statement.

The list was chosen from among 104 companies located in 19 provincial areas.

Miao Zhimin, deputy director of the ministry's raw materials department, said the ministry would work with other government departments to support qualified enterprises and facilitate the merger and restructuring of the steel industry.