The Ministerial Meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity was held in Berlin, Germany.

Background Information
Overcapacity is a common, cyclical, and structural problem that arises during the global economic development process. It is not a phenomenon unique to the steel industry, but a common difficulty and challenge faced by countries worldwide. Its causes are multifaceted. The fundamental cause of this global problem of overcapacity in the steel industry is the global economic recession triggered by the 2008 US financial crisis, leading to a decline in steel demand. This is a consensus among leaders at the G20 Hangzhou Summit. 
History
In December 2016, in accordance with the consensus reached at the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity was established. As per the G20 Hamburg Summit Communiqué, the Forum was to produce a substantive report by November 2017, containing recommendations for specific policy measures, as a basis for taking concrete and rapid policy action.
On November 30, 2017, the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity was held in Berlin, Germany. The meeting reached a consensus on reducing excess capacity and will submit policy recommendations to the G20.
On September 20, 2018, the second ministerial meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity was held in Paris, France. China pointed out at the meeting that the fundamental cause of this round of steel overcapacity was the global economic recession and decline in steel demand triggered by the 2008 international financial crisis. 
Existing Members
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity includes G20 members (China, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union) and interested OECD members, totaling 33 members.
Forum Activities
At the press conference held after the 2017 Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity, German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries stated that global challenges require global responses. The 33 forum members have reached a consensus on this report and will continue to jointly study countermeasures. Zypries specifically pointed out that China has clearly proposed a target of reducing 100 million to 150 million tons of excess capacity before 2020, hoping that in the future, all forum members can independently come up with reduction targets for steel production capacity that are as objective and sincere as China's.
Li Chenggang, Assistant Minister of Commerce of China, attended the meeting at the invitation of the German government, the chair of the forum. Li Chenggang said that from 2014 to 2016, China's reduction of steel production capacity was more than 120% of the global total. To this end, China has paid a huge price and overcome numerous difficulties. In 2016 alone, the steel industry resettled 201,000 employees, exceeding the total number of steel employees in the United States and Japan, and equivalent to 60% of the total number of steel employees in Europe. China's proactive, decisive, and sustained action in resolving excess steel capacity is a necessity for its own development and has also made significant contributions to the development of the world steel industry. 
Significance of the Forum
The member states of the forum actively participated in a constructive manner, further strengthening information sharing and cooperation, proactively promoting the forum's progress, guiding the steel industry to form a virtuous development trend, and contributing to the healthy development of the global steel industry.