(ECNS) -- China plans to allocate 100 billion yuan ($15.3 billion) this year to help relocate 1.8 million coal and steel workers who will be laid off amid the country's effort to reduce excess capacity, said Yin Weimin, the minister for Human Resources and Social Security.
Some 1.3 million jobs will be lost from the coal sector, and 500,000 from the steel industry. The laid-off workers will be accommodated through four major measures, including support for start-ups and early retirement.
Yin said the central and regional governments will provide policy and financial support for these measures.
Yin also said the government will release a plan to raise the retirement age in 2016, as the world's second largest economy faces increased pressure from an aging population.
