Insiders Call for Sustainable Development in China's Nonferrous Industry

Chinese industry insiders are urging the country's nonferrous enterprises to make greater efforts to pursue sustainable development.The comments come as policy-makers are reviewing proposals for the development of the nonferrous metal industry in the next five years, which is due to impose a cap on the sector's output.Wu Jia takes a closer look.

Over the past several decades, China's appetite for nonferrous metals and related products has been expanding rapidly with its stunning economic growth.

The increasing demand has led to unprecedented growth of the production of nonferrous metals, such as copper, aluminum, lead and zinc.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association reports that the country's total output of ten major nonferrous metals amounted to 26 million tons last year, the highest in the world for the seventh consecutive year.

Jia Mingxing, Vice President of the Association, says the trend is likely to continue.

"As the economy grows, the nonferrous industry expands as well. The output of this year is expected to exceed 30 million tons. This growth is too fast."

Jia Mingxing points out that the growth has put a lot of pressure on the environment and energy, which he says has prompted the association to propose a limit on the sector's output.

He reveals that his association has advised the government to limit the combined annual output of 10 major nonferrous metals to 41 million tons over the next five years.

"The development of the nonferrous industry has met some problems, such as environmental pollution and resource and energy shortages. If the sector continues to expand so fast, then it cannot achieve sustainable development."

Wang Jiangwei, a manager with tongye.cn, China's largest consulting website for copper enterprises, shares that opinion.

"We know the copper industry is highly energy-consuming. Moreover, our current smelting technology is still lagging behind international advanced level. So I think a limit on output will benefit the industry in the long term. At present, copper companies should spare no efforts to improve their smelting techniques. Moreover, the industry should properly use its limited copper resources and establish a kind of strategic reserve system in the future."

Insiders emphasize that the industry urgently needs to improve the quality of China's nonferrous products and shift from pursuing expansion to seeking the production of high-end and value-added products.

The latest available official figures show China's output of ten major nonferrous metals rose 24 percent year on year in the first ten months of this year.

For CRI, I'm Wu Jia.