Flag bearer of industry revolution

It's out with the old and in with the new as Zhangjiagang city looks to new ways of conducting business

China's largest private steel company, Shagang Group, plans to move away from steel as its primary business in as little as three years. The seismic shift being considered by the steel stalwart, unthinkable during the boom a decade ago, is the clearest indication to date of the mounting pressure traditional manufacturing sectors in China are facing to stay viable in a rapidly changing domestic and global market.

But in the city of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province, the base for Shagang's steel mill operations, some domestic and foreign companies see opportunity in the challenges besetting traditional industries.