As China’s economic engine slows, the steel industry is lagging with it. Getty Images photographer Kevin Frayer visited the abandoned Qingquan Steel plant in Tangshan, which closed in 2014. The eerie photos depict just one of the many zombie factories that are left to rot in Hebei province, once home to China’s thriving Steel Belt.
China is the world’s leading producer of steel and Hebei once accounted for nearly a quarter of the country’s output. According to Chinese officials, a slump in domestic demand and plunging prices caused widespread economic downturn. As a consequence, large state-owned steel mills have been shut down and dozens of small privately-owned plants in the area have gone bankrupt.
In an attempt to restructure China’s slowing economy the government plans to slash steel production by up to 150 million tonnes per year, resulting in as many as 400,000 jobs lost.
Creepy idle machines
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
A weigh station, with nothing to weigh
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Smoke stacks extinguished
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
It’s hard to believe this was once a thriving plant
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Imagine this space bustling with activity
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Look at all this machinery that has been left to rust
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Empty conveyor belts and an empty road
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Steel tools with no hands to wield them
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Control panels that don’t beep and flash
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Workers’ lockers in shambles
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Shadows
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
The last person who left did not close the windows
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Check it out: the apocalypse
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Nice reflection though
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Security camera and an imperial guardian lion at the gate, keeping watch
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
A closed railway track to nowhere
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
An empty task board
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Silent hall
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
Control room
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images
No more steel production here
Photo: Kevin Frayer/Stringer/Getty Images