This article takes several non-BF processes that have achieved different milestones in research and development and industrial applications as examples to introduce the current development of green steel technologies and deeply analyses their operation costs in contrast with BF‑BOF in China, the US and the EU. Judging from our cost model results, if the technical bottleneck of direct reduction of low-grade iron ore is overcome, China, which lacks high-grade iron ore and steel scrap, will have huge advantages in green steel production over the EU and the US. In this regard, China will likely become a global green steel manufacturing base in the future thanks to its efforts in renewable energy infrastructure construction.