HANGZHOU, China — China’s vast steel industry is a major target of President Trump. But this hulking shell of a mill here shows why China is likely to keep pumping out more and more steel, inflaming trade tensions between the two countries.
The Hangzhou steel mill, a vast labyrinth of blast furnaces, warehouses, chimneys and worker dormitories covering hundreds of acres, was one of Mao Zedong’s favorite projects. Built in just 13 months in the late 1950s, it once employed 25,000 workers.
Pollution and the march of progress made the mill a liability. But closing a mill eliminates well-paying jobs — a central reason China keeps factories churning out steel the world doesn’t need.
