The State-led Rise of the Chinese Steel Industry

Abstract

Until the early years of the twenty-first century, the Asia-Pacific resource networks were predominantly oriented to supplying mineral resources to Japan. However, the rise of the Chinese steel industry was to see Japanese dominance give way. Catalysed by China’s post-socialist economic reforms, the Chinese steel industry began a period of rapid growth in the mid-1980s that within two decades had seen it emerge as not only the primary steelmaking centre in the Asian region, but also account for almost half of world steel production. The transition from central planning to an internationally-open and market-based economy proved difficult for the Chinese steel sector, with recurring crises threatening to derail the industry’s growth. State leadership, achieved through interventionist industrial policy initiatives, was a critical factor that allowed the Chinese steel industry to overcome crises and emerge as the world’s dominant steel producer. It was also of considerable importance to the Asia-Pacific resource networks, as it shaped the characteristics of a Chinese production networking strategy that would have major consequences for how the resource networks were governed.