In 2008, China had a steel capacity of 660 million tons, far in excess of its demand of about 500 million tons. A quarter of the capacity had to flock into the international market. Between 2007 and 2008, China could export some 60 million tons of steel each year. But this year, steel exports have already shrunk to millions of tons in net trade terms. Domestic demand remained week. In the first half of 2009, China completed an investment of over 140 billion yuan in the steel industry, with 58 million tons of capacity from projects under construction, many of which were virtually unauthorized. If no immediate action is taken to rein in the blind expansion, capacity may surpass demand by nearly 200 million tons.