The city of Tangshan in North China's Hebei Province, China's steel-making capital, will continue receiving subsidies this year to help cope with declining steel and iron production, authorities said.
A total of 100 million yuan ($15 million) has been earmarked to support the industries in further cutting overcapacity, according to Tangshan government, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The funds will be used to support laid-off workers to find new jobs, as well as assisting firms with restructuring and upgrading.
They will also be used to reward steel and iron enterprises that meet this year's targets for reducing excess steel. In early January, Tangshan committed to cutting capacity by 8.61 million tons and iron capacity by 9.33 million tons.
With excess production weighing on China's overall economic performance, cutting overcapacity is high on the reform agenda. The city has phased out a total of 18.67 million tons of iron capacity and 31.86 million tons of steel capacity in the past four years.?
According to the Hebei provincial government, Tangshan needs to reduce production by 40 million tons of steel and 28 million tons of iron by the end of 2017, which accounts for half of China's capacity reduction goal.
