Overcoming the challenges of Northeast

In the next five years, China's steel sector has to reduce capacity by 100-150 million metric tons, while the coal-mining sector must also cut capacity by 500 million tons, with another 500 million tons to be restructured in the following three to five years.

Things are not likely to get better anytime soon. Recently, Chinese steel prices experienced a short-term rise, and market conditions are expected to improve after the shutdown of steel factories. Yet a full recovery for the global steel industry may take a few years.

Northeast China comprises Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces; it is also the country's industrial base. In the early 2000s, the government's "Revitalize the Northeast" campaign sought to turn the region into an economic growth engine. More recently, the rebalancing of the economy has been shifting the growth momentum away from heavy industries toward consumption and innovation - which means diminishing prospects for the Northeast.