China will lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industry – Yahoo Finance Spain

Beijing, 29 February (EFE) .- China plans to lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industry due to overcapacity in the industry , said today the Minister of Human Resources and Chinese Social Security Yin Weimin.

at a news conference, Yin spoke of the difficulties facing the industry by downward pressures on the economy and excess capacity, and they admitted that they cause some companies are facing difficulties and loss of employment.

a report from the Chamber of Commerce of the European Union (EU) in Beijing warned the week last that measures the Chinese government have led to an expansion of the industrial capacity of the country disconnected from the actual market demand.

the Chamber cited as an example that the Chinese steel industry produces more than twice the sum of its four immediate competitors (Japan, India, United States and Russia) or only between 2011 and 2012 the Asian power produced more cement than the US in the twentieth century.

the overcapacities China were already a problem before the international financial crisis of 2008, but the fall in demand for exports that caused the recession, along with the stimulus plan launched Beijing, which exacerbated, says the study.

European firms operating in China blame the overcapacity of China trade tensions currently living between China and the European Union (EU).

the European Commission opened last February 12 investigations in three steel products imported from China to determine if introduced into the Community market by “dumping” (selling below market price).

the Chinese minister said today that China will launch new measures to “relocate” to workers who lose their jobs, although he did not specify which ones, nor offered data from other sectors.

the Chinese government announced earlier this month a plan to cut its steelmaking capacity up to 150 million tons, 12.5% ​​of the current total, in the course of the next five years.

China created 13.12 million urban jobs last year, above the target set by the government in ten million, and the urban unemployment rate remained at 4.05 percent, according to data provided by Yin.

Since 2013, China has created more than 13 million urban jobs annually, although the 2015 figure was 0.8 percent lower than last year

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