China’s steel sector must avoid US rust belt’s fate: party journal

As geopolitical tensions intensify, China’s steel sector – the world’s largest – is facing trade-restrictive measures in overseas markets and shrinking margins, but the country must strive to avoid the mistakes of America’s rust belt, according to an article in the Communist Party’s top theoretical journal.The piece, published in the latest issue of the Qiushi Journal and written jointly by the journal and the China-iron-and-steel-association" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="118516" data-entity-type="organization">China Iron and Steel Association, argued that China should not allow its steel sector to contract in an attempt to redirect more resources towards emerging industries.“Lessons from America’s rust belt remain a sobering reminder,” the article said. “The de-industrialisation of traditional industries will inevitably trigger a chain of repercussions, including regional economic recession, job losses and sluggish innovation.”