China has singled out coal and steel as the first sectors to go under the knife in its supply-side structural reforms, and estimates a total of 1.8 million workers to be affected, a top official said Monday.
About 1.3 million workers in coal and 500,000 in steel will be "reassigned," Yin Weimin, the minister for human resources and social security, said in a news briefing. In the same speech, Yin spoke of the matter using the phrase "to reassign laid-off workers."
"We're still very confident; even though this will be a very difficult undertaking, we will be able to accomplish it in a steadfast manner with joint effort from all parties," Yin said.
Yin's unveiling follows that last Thursday by Feng Fei, vice minister at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, of Yuan 100 billion ($15.3 billion) in funds that the central government has allocated over two years to help relocate displaced workers.
Earlier, China's State Council announced guidelines to eliminate 100-150 million mt of steel capacity over the next five years, and measures to manage the resulting fallout from unemployment.
The Chinese government said in January it will provide policy and financial support to resolve the overcapacity in steel, without further elaborating on the timeline.
