Glut and loss in the time of steel ferment

Efforts to cut excess capacity and upgrade the sector are creating new problems as well as opportunities

Editor's note: As China presses on with its attempts to cut overcapacity in steel as part of its international obligations and national economic priorities, the going is getting tougher. On one side is the heart-rending saga of survival-oriented hundreds of thousands of workers - laid off by steel mills, and now desperately trying to learn new skills to find alternative employment in other fields. On the other is the recalcitrant section of the steel industry that is yet to align itself with the national targets for reduction in overcapacity. China Daily takes stock of the sweeping reforms that may yet transform the country's steel industry.

Wearing a red hat and waving a red flag, Jiang Qin, a woman in her 50s, now works to assist traffic police, persuading pedestrians and bike riders to obey traffic rules on a street in Hefei, capital of Anhui province in East China.