On May 12, Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, stated regarding the steel and coal industries' resolution of excess capacity that the implementation plans for resolving excess capacity in the steel and coal industries in relevant regions have been completed, and the work to resolve excess capacity will fully enter the formal implementation stage. The management measures for reward and subsidy funds were recently issued. On May 12, the National Development and Reform Commission held a press conference on the macroeconomic operation situation. Zhao Chenxin introduced the situation of resolving excess capacity in the steel and coal industries. In early February, the State Council announced the guiding opinions for resolving excess capacity in coal and steel to achieve a turnaround in development, proposing to eliminate about 500 million tons of coal capacity and reduce and restructure about 500 million tons over a period of 3 to 5 years starting from 2016; the target for reducing crude steel capacity is to cut 100 million to 150 million tons over 5 years. To achieve these goals, with the approval of the State Council, an inter-ministerial joint meeting system was established, consisting of 25 member units, to coordinate and promote the work of resolving excess capacity. The Ministry of Finance and other departments are responsible for researching and formulating eight special supporting policy documents, including reward and subsidy funds, fiscal and tax support, financial support, employee placement, land, environmental protection, quality, and safety. Zhao Chenxin reported that as of now, seven supporting policy documents, excluding reward and subsidy funds, have been issued and implemented, and the management measures for special reward and subsidy funds for industrial enterprise structural adjustment will also be issued soon after several rounds of revisions. After each province sets a "military order," comprehensive implementation will begin. Previously, on February 19, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission held a joint video conference to deploy the work of resolving excess capacity in steel. The meeting required each province to expedite the formulation of implementation plans, study and propose the total scale of capacity exit, the scale of exit by enterprise, and the timetable, and report to the State Council for record. Zhao Chenxin revealed yesterday that the implementation plans for resolving excess capacity in the steel and coal industries in relevant regions have been completed, clarifying the overall arrangements for each region during the 13th Five-Year Plan period and drafting annual capacity reduction or exit plans. According to requirements, the relevant provincial governments have also completed the signing of responsibility documents for achieving the goals of resolving excess capacity in the steel and coal industries. After the signing of the responsibility documents and the implementation plans are recorded as required, the work to resolve excess capacity will fully enter the formal implementation stage. It is understood that the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and relevant departments have signed responsibility documents with provincial governments and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which will serve as the basis for assessing the completion of tasks. Relevant departments will also publicly disclose the annual completion status of tasks to society, accept social supervision, and hold accountable localities and enterprises that fail to complete their tasks. The rise in steel prices has little impact on capacity reduction. In mid to late December last year, domestic steel prices entered a recovery phase. After March this year, the speed of steel price recovery accelerated significantly. By the end of April, the steel price index released by the China Iron and Steel Industry Association had risen to 84.66, an increase of 11.47 points compared to the same period last year and an increase of 30.18 points compared to the lowest point in December last year. Since entering May, steel prices have declined again, with the steel price index falling to 82.57. Does the rise or fluctuation in steel prices affect capacity reduction? Zhao Chenxin responded yesterday that the rise in steel prices has a certain impact on resolving excess capacity in steel, but the overall impact is small. He stated that the recent rise in steel prices is mainly driven by policy expectations, market speculation, and short-term factors, and the market supply and demand relationship has not fundamentally changed; the serious overcapacity situation in the steel industry has not changed, making it difficult for steel prices to sustain rapid increases. Additionally, from what has been learned, the resumed production capacity is all compliant capacity and does not fall within the scope of elimination; the majority of enterprises resuming production are normal responses to market changes and adjustments in production and operations. What military orders does the central government want localities to sign? The capacity reduction in steel and coal will be comprehensively implemented after localities sign the "military orders." The so-called "military orders" refer to the responsibility documents for achieving the goals of resolving excess capacity in the steel and coal industries. Beijing Youth Daily reporters noted that in addition to capacity reduction, local governments have also signed many "military orders" to the central government. The most well-known to the public is the "military order" for air pollution control. In January 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced that it had signed the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Target Responsibility Document" with all 31 provinces (regions, municipalities) in the country. Related to this, the "Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan" released in April 2015 also stipulated that the State Council would sign water pollution prevention and control target responsibility documents with provincial and municipal governments to effectively implement "dual responsibilities for one position." Those who fail to pass the annual assessment will be interviewed by the provincial government and relevant department heads, given rectification suggestions, and supervised; construction project environmental assessments will be limited for relevant regions and enterprises. In addition, to ensure the completion of the goal of lifting rural poverty under the current standards by 2020, Xi Jinping emphasized at the Central Poverty Alleviation and Development Work Conference last November that responsibility documents for poverty alleviation must be signed at all levels, establishing military orders. During this conference, the main responsible comrades of the party and government in 22 provinces and regions in the central and western regions signed responsibility documents for poverty alleviation.