China is facing an uphill battle to revive its ailing rust belt

The State Council’s latest plan to rescue the economies of the northeast by 2020 might not be enough to overcome the magnitude of the challenges facing the rust-belt provinces, analysts say. The government tried but failed to rejuvenate the region in 2003 after it was hit by massive protests by workers at state-owned factories when the authorities introduced plans to shut down unprofitable firms. Now, the region has again become a major source of concern over fears of social instability as the...