The very first restructuring fund for the steel industry in China, Siyuanhe Steel Industry Restructure Fund, has been established. The fund will be committed to pushing forward the country’s supply-side reform plans and the restructuring of the domestic steel industry.
Participants in the fund include China Baowu Steel Group, China's largest steelmaker and the world's second-largest by crude steel output, with a 25 percent stake, WL Ross & Co. with 26 percent, US-China Green Fund with 25 percent, and China Merchants Finance Holdings Co. Ltd with a 24 percent stake.
In October last year, a report from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) outlined the steel industry's restructuring and upgrading tasks for the next five years. Domestic steelmakers will have to cut their crude steel capacity by between 100 million metric tons and 150 million metric tons. Also, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the country's top 10 steel enterprises will raise their output from 34 percent of the nation's total to 60 percent. Furthermore, at the end of last year China’s Central Economic Work Conference also called for mergers and restructuring across the steel industry.