A labourer marks steel bars at a steel and iron factory in Huai’an, Jiangsu province, China, in this February 18, 2008 file photo. China said on Monday it expects to lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industries, or about 15 percent of the workforce, as part of efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity, but no timeframe was given. It was the first time China has given figures that underline the magnitude of its task in dealing with slowing growth and bloated state enterprises. Yin Weimin, the minister for human resources and social security, told a news conference that 1.3 million workers in the coal sector could lose jobs, plus 500,000 from the steel sector. China’s coal and steel sectors employ about 12 million workers, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics. “This involves the resettlement of a total of 1.8 million workers. This […]