AFP, HONG KONG: British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday urged China to reduce its steel production levels as the UK grapples with an industry crisis that could see thousands of jobs lost. Speaking with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, en route to Hiroshima for the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Hammond expressed his concerns about steel over-capacity. India’s Tata Steel announced last month it was selling some or all of its loss-making British operations including the Port Talbot works in Wales, putting 15,000 jobs at risk and triggering doom-laden warnings of worse to come for Europe’s steel industry. It cited cheap imports to Europe from China, as well as global oversupply, high costs and currency volatility as reasons for rapidly-deteriorating trading conditions.