China Plans to Cut 500,000 Jobs This Year in Smokestack Sectors
- Nation reduced about 726,000 workers in steel, coal last year
- Government is mulling policies to help support new industries
Smoke billows from a factory nearby in Dalian, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China will further trim its bloated smokestack industries this year and support other sectors in services or internet-related businesses to create new jobs.
The country plans to eliminate another 500,000 jobs in industries with excess capacity, Minister of Human Resources Yin Weimin said at a briefing Wednesday in Beijing. That’s part of an effort to trim 1.8 million employees in steel and coal over a few years. About 726,000 jobs were cut from those industries last year, Yin said.