The Capital Iron and Steel Service Alliance was officially launched in Beijing on June 21 and, at the opening ceremony, received two major engineering contracts with a total value of more than 1.2 billion yuan. The alliance, co-founded by nine steel producers and steel-related service suppliers from the capital city of China including Shougang Corporation, MCC Jingcheng Engineering Technology Co Ltd and the Iron and Steel Research Institute, is to build its own brand and help local producers to extend their market shares by participating in international and domestic tenders for engineering services in a collective move.