China's top steel maker China Baowu Steel Groups move is in line with Beijing's goal push to relocate heavy industries from polluted and crowded regions to places with less environmental pressure.
It is not the first time Chinalco, China's biggest state-owned aluminium producer, has run afoul of the country's ever stricter environmental regulations.
Thyssenkrupp's joint venture with Tata Steel - to be named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel - will have around 48,000 workers and about 17 billion euros in sales.