China expects to make over a million coal and steel workers redundant — around 15% of the workforce in those sectors — as part of efforts to reduce over-capacity.
Yin Weimin, the Chinese minister for human resources and social security, told a news conference that 1.3 million workers in the coal sector could lose their jobs, plus 500,000 in the steel sector. No time-frame was given.
Mr Yin said: “ This will be very difficult, but we are still very confident about the future.”
China’s coal and steel sectors employ about 12 million people, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
The central government will allocate 100 billion yuan (£11 billion) to “re-locate” workers, Mr Yin added. “The economy faces relatively big downward pressures, and some firms face difficulties in production and operation, which will lead to insufficient employment.”
The minister said that manufacturing in his country is suffering, and he confirmed that the contribution of the services sector to GDP rose to 50.5% last year, passing 50% for the first time.