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At the start of 2018, shareholders and creditors finally agreed a restructuring deal that cut CISC’s debts from 20 billion yuan to 3.5 billion yuan and transferred unprofitable assets to the local government.

Executives admit CISC’s upturn in fortunes came amid an improvement in the steel market, with prices revived by state efforts to shut down low-grade, polluting mills.

“Its location is in Chongqing but its products were designed for coastal areas,” said Yu Hong, a Four Rivers executive now serving as secretary of CISC’s board of directors.

“What we want to build in ourselves is the ability to be competitive in the regional market, and when everyone is doing badly, it becomes a sector problem,” CISC’s chief executive Li Yongxiang told Reuters.