[4]: 4–5 The steel refinery was modified under the aid of Soviet Union as 1 of 156 important construction projects [zh] in the First Five-year plan of China.

In 1958, prompted by the political movement of the Great Leap Forward, workers at Angang laid out rules to challenge the existing operations of their workplace.

In August 2021, Ansteel and Angang Group Corporation, began the process of merging and restructuring that will create the world's third-largest steelmaker.

[8] Academic Koji Hirata writes, "[T]hrough museums, essays, films, and television series, Angang symbolizes a golden age of Northeastern industry, when the region's SOEs were at the vanguard of China's steelmaking, auto manufacturing, coal mining and other industries vital for building socialism.

"[4]: 2 The Communist Party portrays the development of Angang and industry in the northeast as part of its history of building the Chinese nation.