During the meeting, Premier Li Keqiang underlined the urgency and the government’s resolve to cut excess capacity in steel and coal industries, as the country strives to restructure its economy, which saw its lowest growth in 25 years at 6.9% last year.
The state council did not specify the deadline for such a cut, but pointed out that China has cut its production capacity of crude steel by more than 90 million mt in recent years, as reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
China will reduce the production capacity of coal by “a relatively large margin,” according to the statement. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal.
