MNI with a heads up for a piece from Xinhua News Agency

Reporting on comments from Li Xinchuang, head of China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute:

  • Closing excessive steel-production capacity may result in 400,000 job losses
  • More jobs will be lost in associated upstream and downstream businesses
  • Large-scale job losses in the steel industry may threaten social stability

Social stability is a very big concern of the Chinese administration. Structural reform of the Chinese economy is creating costs like stability costs. I don't know how Chinese authorities will deal with this. There are suggestions some displaced workers will return to rural areas.

I am not expert on this, but its a very scary prospect.

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Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the People's Republic of China