A worker takes samples for quality of molten iron outside a furnace at the Zhong Tian (Zenith) Steel Group Corporation on May 12, 2016 in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Zhong Tian (Zenith) Steel Group Corporation is a privately-owned manufacturer that employs over 13,000 workers at its facility in Jiangsu province. #

Smoke billows from smokestacks and a coal fired generator at a steel factory on November 19, 2015 in the industrial province of Hebei, China. China's government set 2030 as a deadline for the country to reach its peak for emissions of carbon dioxide. #

Ore to be used in the manufacturing of steel sits in barges in the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in the logistics area of the Zhong Tian Steel Group in Changzhou on on May 12, 2016. #

A Chinese steel worker walks past steel rods at a plant on April 6, 2016 in Tangshan, Hebei province. China's announced plans to slash steel production by up to 150 million tons, possibly meaning as many as 400,000 lost jobs, according to state estimates. Officials point to excessive industrial capacity, a slump in demand and plunging prices as they attempt to restructure China's slowing economy. Hebei province, long regarded as China's steel belt, once accounted for nearly a quarter of the country's steel output. In recent years, state-owned steel mills have been shut down and dozens of small privately-owned plants in the area have gone bankrupt. #

Chinese job seekers wait for interviews at a job fair held by companies in the Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei) economic area on April 16, 2016 in Beijing, China. China's government is aiming to maintain a growth rate of at least 6.5% for 2016 as it works to offset a slowdown in the overall economy. Over the next two years, China will layoff millions of workers in underperforming industries such as coal and steel but will also create up to 10 million news jobs as part of its retrenchment. #

The broken window of a building in the abandoned Qingquan Steel plant which closed in 2014 and became one of several so-called "zombie factories", on January 26, 2016 in Tangshan, China. China's government plans to slash steel production by up to 150 million tons, which could see the loss of as many as 400,000 jobs according to state estimates. #

Worker's lockers in the abandoned Qingquan Steel plant on January 26, 2016 in Tangshan. Officials blame the slowdown on excessive industrial capacity, a slump in demand and plunging prices as they attempt to restructure China's slowing economy. #

Buildings in the abandoned Qingquan Steel plant which closed in 2014, on January 26, 2016, in Tangshan. Hebei province, long regarded as China's steel belt, once accounted for nearly a quarter of the country's steel output. In recent years, state-owned steel mills have been shut down and dozens of small privately-owned plants in the area have gone bankrupt. #

In Inner Mongolia, China, a Chinese laborer pours molten steel at an unauthorized steel factory on November 3, 2016. To meet China's targets to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, authorities are pushing to shut down privately owned steel, coal, and other high-polluting factories scattered across rural areas. In many cases, factory owners say they pay informal "fines" to local inspectors and then re-open. #

Smoke billows from a large steel plant as a Chinese laborer works at an unauthorized steel factory, foreground, on November 4, 2016 in Inner Mongolia, China. To meet China's targets to slash emissions of carbon dioxide, authorities are pushing to shut down privately owned steel, coal, and other high-polluting factories scattered across rural areas. The enforcement comes as the future of U.S. support for the 2015 Paris Agreement is in question, leaving China poised as an unlikely leader in the international effort against climate change. U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about whether he will withdraw the U.S. from commitments to curb greenhouse gases that, according to scientists, are causing the earth's temperature to rise. China's leadership has stated that any change in U.S. climate policy will not affect its commitment to implement the climate action plan. While still the world's biggest polluter, China is also a global leader in establishing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. #