China pledges steel, coal capacity cuts in supply-side reforms
1 min read 24 Jan 2016, 06:47 PM ISTThe country will push to cut 100 million to 150 million tons of steel production and large scale reductions in coal output
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Beijing/Shanghai: China is targeting further cuts in crude steel production capacity by as much as 150 million tons and “large scale" reductions in coal output as part of supply-side measures aimed at curbing overcapacity and excess labour in state-owned industries.
The country has lowered steel production by about 90 million tons “in recent years" and will push to cut a further 100 million to 150 million tons, while “strictly controlling" steel capacity increases and halting new coal mine approvals, according to a Sunday statement on the Chinese government’s website, citing a State Council meeting on 22 January chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. No time line was mentioned.
China has vowed in the past to curb capacity in industries such as coal and steel as the world’s second-largest economy slows amid a shift towards consumer-led growth. Still, it has struggled to meet stated coal capacity limits spelled out in the 12th Five-Year plan that ended last year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Coal demand in the country is also declining with the government keen to curb pollution.
The government plans to set up a fund to help coal miners and steelmakers reduce their workforce and dispose of bad assets, Li said during a meeting in Shanxi province, according to a 7 January China Central Television report. The financial help is dependent on the companies cutting capacity, he said.
Shantytown development
As part of re-balancing the economy towards domestic consumption, the country’s cabinet also pledged to ease conditions for rural-to-urban migration and expand “new urbanization" trials to more regions, the government said in Sunday’s statement. China will “more aggressively develop" small- and medium-sized cities and give more administrative authority to areas with populations of more than 100,000, the government said.
China will also expand shantytown development in major cities, while reducing the barriers to entry to attract private capital investment in transportation, underground pipe networks and other forms of construction, according to the statement. Bloomberg
