Two Chinese officials have been punished for allowing steel mills to restart operations after being closed down, a violation of state policies aimed at cutting capacity in the sector, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday.

Zhang Jiehui and Ma Qiulin, deputy governors of Hebei and Jiangsu, China's two biggest steel producing provinces, will be subject to "administrative punishments" handed out by China's cabinet, the State Council, the paper said.

China announced at the beginning of this year that it would close 100-150 million tons of crude steel capacity within three to five years in a bid to tackle price-sapping capacity gluts in the sector.

In November, the government dispatched inspection teams to severely punish illegal expansion in the coal and steel sectors, and named firms in both Hebei and Jiangsu as culprits.

 

Source:reuters.com

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