(Yicai Global) Aug. 4 -- The largest overseas steel construction project undertaken by a Chinese company to date has started production. The No. 1 furnace at Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Plant in Vietnam, whose contractor is the Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. (MCC), an affiliate of China Minmetals Corporation (CMC), has commenced operations.

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Plant is the biggest-ever investment project in Vietnam, the largest steel partnership project in Southeast Asia and one of the world's only two green steel projects with a capacity of tens of millions of tons that are currently under construction, involving contracts worth about USD2.4 billion, Jiemian.com reported.

The project has prompted USD3.35 billion worth of exports in China's services outsourcing industry, including exports of Chinese-made equipment and steel structures worth USD2.45 billion.

CMC and MCC underwent a strategic restructuring in December 2015 upon the approval of China's State Council. The new CMC has total assets of over CNY750 billion, with 240,000 employees. After restructuring, CMC has established operations in 27 countries along the Belt and Road route. As of the first half of this year, CMC had 275 ongoing overseas projects with a combined value of USD13,89 billion.