The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 11 other departments issued the Notice on the Implementation Plan for High-quality Development of the Copper Industry (2025-2027)
China Nonferrous Metals News February 12, 2025 10:39 Beijing

Joint Original Document No. [2025] 18 
To the industrial and information technology, development and reform, education, natural resources, ecological environment, commerce, emergency management, and state-owned assets management departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and municipalities with independent planning status, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs, all directly affiliated customs, all regulatory bureaus of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and all provincial bureaus of the State Administration of Work Safety: The "Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Copper Industry (2025-2027)" is hereby issued to you. Please implement it conscientiously in light of the actual situation.

(2025-2027)

Copper is an important basic raw material and a strategic resource related to the national economy and people's livelihood. In recent years, the scale of my country's copper industry has continued to grow, the industrial structure has continued to optimize, and the level of equipment technology has continued to improve. A number of industrial clusters with international competitiveness have been initially formed, which have strongly supported the development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy and new generation information technology. But at the same time, problems such as insufficient resource guarantee capabilities and the need to optimize the industrial structure have become prominent. In order to promote the high-quality development of the copper industry, better support the development of key industrial chains in the manufacturing industry and meet the people's needs for a better life, this implementation plan has been formulated, and the implementation period is from 2025 to 2027.

I. General requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, implement the arrangements of the National Conference on Promoting New Industrialization, and based on the new development stage, fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, coordinate high-quality development and high-level security, adhere to the overall planning of the entire industrial chain, take innovation as the fundamental driving force, enhance the ability to ensure copper raw materials, standardize the order of industrial development, give play to the leading role of leading enterprises, strengthen upstream and downstream coordination, promote high-end, green and intelligent transformation, accelerate the formation of new quality productivity, and promote high-quality development of the copper industry.
By 2027, the resilience and security level of the industrial chain and supply chain will be significantly improved. The ability to ensure copper raw materials will continue to increase, and we will strive to increase the amount of domestic copper mine resources by 5%-10%, and further improve the level of recycled copper recycling. The level of technological innovation will continue to improve, and a number of key processes and high-end new materials for the green and efficient development and utilization of copper resources will be broken through, and the high-end equipment manufacturing capabilities will be significantly enhanced. A number of high-quality copper industry enterprises will be cultivated, and the industrial structure will be further optimized. Looking forward to 2035, the level of the industrial chain will be world-leading, and a high-quality development situation will be fully formed. The ability to ensure copper raw materials will be significantly enhanced, and the innovation capabilities of technical equipment and material application will be strengthened.
The level is among the best in the world, forming a development pattern with a reasonable industrial structure, high level of technological innovation, good quality and efficiency, and strong global competitiveness.

II. Key Tasks
(I) Strengthening the domestic raw material security foundation
1. Promote the increase of domestic resource reserves and production. Solidly advance a new round of strategic actions for prospecting breakthroughs, strengthen the investigation and exploration of copper resources in key domestic mineralization belts, and add a batch of copper resource reserves available for development. Actively carry out prospecting in the deep and marginal areas of existing mines, extend the service life of mines, conduct investigations on mine pollution conditions, and coordinate mine pollution control and ecological restoration. Promote the construction of copper resource bases in key areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang, build a batch of large and medium-sized copper mines, and continuously improve the level of copper mine development and utilization and safe production. On the premise of doing a good job in ecological and environmental protection and ensuring safe production, accelerate the approval process of copper mine development projects, environmental impact assessments, safety facility design reviews, etc., and accelerate the expansion of production projects and the construction of new projects. (The Ministry of Natural Resources, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the State Administration of Work Safety are responsible for their respective duties)
2. Encourage the comprehensive utilization of mineral resources. Increase the evaluation of associated resources such as rhenium in copper mines, strengthen the comprehensive utilization of associated resources such as molybdenum, gold, and silver, improve the resource mining recovery rate, mineral processing recovery rate, and comprehensive utilization rate, and realize the efficient development and utilization of all elements of copper mine associated resources. Encourage copper mining enterprises to mine both rich and poor materials, and strengthen the reduction, resource utilization, and harmless disposal of copper tailings and smelting slag. Promote large-scale mineral processing equipment, green mineral processing agents, and comprehensive utilization technologies for low-grade copper ores and tailings. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Natural Resources are responsible for their respective duties)
3. Strengthen the recycling and utilization of renewable resources. Strengthen the processing and distribution capabilities of scrap copper, and improve the level of refined processing and direct utilization. Support the establishment of large-scale scrap copper recycling bases and industrial clusters, promote the integrated development of scrap copper recycling, disassembly, processing, classification, and distribution, and promote the intensive and high-value development of the recycled copper industry. Encourage mining copper smelting enterprises to establish a scrap copper resource recycling network and use the existing copper smelting system to process copper-containing recycled resources. Cultivate a group of scrap copper processing and utilization enterprises that meet regulatory conditions and have strong competitiveness, and copper smelting enterprises that utilize copper-containing recycled resources. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Commerce are responsible for their respective duties)
2. Promoting structural adjustment
4. Promote the orderly development of copper smelting. Promote the transformation of copper smelting development from capacity expansion to quality and efficiency improvement, strictly implement relevant policy requirements such as industry, environmental protection, energy efficiency, and safety, and new, renovated and expanded copper smelting projects should be implemented in accordance with the benchmark level of "Energy Efficiency Benchmark Levels and Basic Levels in Key Industrial Fields (2023 Edition)". New, renovated and expanded copper smelting projects are encouraged to be built at a high level in accordance with the standard conditions of the copper smelting industry, and energy efficiency levels should be promoted as much as possible. Implement requirements such as total pollutant control, regional reduction, and carbon emission reduction. In principle, new copper smelting projects in new mines must be equipped with a corresponding proportion of equity copper concentrate production capacity. Resolutely eliminate backward processes. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council are responsible for their respective duties)
5. Optimize industrial layout. Implement the country's major regional strategies, regional coordinated development strategies and main functional area strategies, comprehensively consider production factors such as resources, energy, environment, and transportation, guide the orderly transfer of production capacity to regions with resource and energy advantages and environmental carrying capacity, promote the withdrawal of inefficient production capacity, and no longer increase copper smelting capacity in key areas of air pollution prevention and control. Encourage the coupled development of copper smelting and chemical, building materials and other industries to achieve on-site conversion of by-product sulfur. Support the cultivation of advanced manufacturing clusters in the copper deep processing industry. (The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment are responsible for their respective duties)

6. Cultivate high-quality enterprises. Cultivate global leading large-scale copper enterprise groups and increase the concentration of copper mining and smelting. Support leading enterprises to play a leading role in industrial cluster construction, transformation and upgrading, and optimize the industrial ecology. Focusing on the needs of key areas such as new energy and electronic information, focus on cultivating "specialized, specialized and innovative" and "single champion" enterprises in the copper industry and create a group of high-tech enterprises with international competitiveness. (The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council are responsible for their respective duties)
(III) Improving industrial innovation capabilities
7. Improve the innovation system. Support enterprises to cooperate with scientific research institutes, universities, etc. to carry out basic theoretical research, original technology development and commercial application research, and study the establishment of a manufacturing innovation center in the copper field. Support the development of enterprise technology centers, key laboratories, etc. Encourage copper industry clusters to adopt various forms to build copper-based new material pilot platforms, and promote the industrialization of new materials and new process research and development results in a safe and orderly manner. Support the construction of related innovation platforms such as copper resource development, production application, testing and evaluation. Attach importance to the training and introduction of scientific and technological talents, and cultivate a group of industrial workers, technical backbones, and innovation teams. (The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology are responsible for their respective duties)
8. Accelerate the research and development of key technologies. Support the safe and efficient mining of complex ore deposits and ultra-deep mines, large-scale green, low-carbon, intelligent mining and selection in ultra-high altitude and extremely cold areas, and efficient selection of low-grade and difficult-to-select ores. Guide copper material production enterprises to cooperate with scientific research institutes and downstream application enterprises to carry out research and development and industrial application of high-performance copper alloy material preparation technologies such as high-purity oxygen-free copper, high-end rolled copper foil, and high-end lead frame materials. Accelerate the development of a new generation of continuous casting and rolling precision copper tube production lines, copper plate and strip U-shaped continuous extrusion online flattening equipment, rolled copper foil rolling mills, roller bottom continuous annealing furnaces, strip automatic cleaning lines, air cushion annealing furnaces and other key equipment. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration of Work Safety are responsible for their respective duties)
(IV) Promote the green and intelligent development of industries
9. Support green transformation and upgrading. Strengthen the in-depth treatment of air pollution in the copper smelting industry, accelerate the conversion of industrial furnaces using highly polluting fuels to electricity, natural gas, etc., build a number of benchmark enterprises that have achieved A-level environmental performance, encourage C-level environmental performance enterprises to strengthen governance and improve performance levels, and by the end of 2025, all copper smelting capacity in key areas of air pollution prevention and control will complete A-level environmental performance transformation. Strengthen the treatment of heavy metal pollution in the copper smelting field, harmlessly treat arsenic-containing smelting slag, soot and other solid wastes, and promote the recycling of water resources and the recovery of medium and low-temperature waste heat. Guide enterprises and parks to strengthen environmental performance management and build a number of green mines, green factories and green parks. Build a green and low-carbon public service platform for the non-ferrous metals industry and accelerate the promotion of a number of energy-saving and low-carbon technologies. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council are responsible for their respective duties)
The focus is on promoting technologies and equipment such as green recycling biological copper extraction technology for low-grade copper mines, green and efficient short-process large-scale flotation equipment sets, copper gun continuous blowing technology, double-furnace continuous copper smelting technology, anode furnace pure oxygen combustion technology, and low-carbon treatment technology for scrap copper.
10. Promote digital transformation and intelligent upgrading. Implement the "Digitalization of Raw Materials Industry Column 3 Digital and Intelligent Transformation and Upgrading Key Direction Transformation Work Plan (2024-2026)", "Non-ferrous Metals Industry Smart Factory (Mines) Construction Guidelines", and "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Mines to Promote Mines Safety Development", and deepen the application of digital and intelligent technologies in the entire industry chain. Promote copper mines, smelting, and processing enterprises to carry out basic network, basic automation, and management information transformation and upgrading, and accelerate the realization of digitalization, networking, and intelligence of enterprises. Support leading enterprises in the industry to build a number of smart mines, factories, and typical application scenarios, give play to the leading role of advanced models, and accelerate the promotion and application of new technologies, new equipment, and new models. For scenarios such as key equipment fault resolution, production process control, and safety and environmental protection intelligent management, vigorously promote the integration and application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the copper industry. (Led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission, and participated by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the State Administration of Mine Safety)
For copper mining enterprises, we will improve the construction of basic networks, build a digital resource management system and an integrated production control platform, and carry out digital transformation of mining equipment such as mining trucks, drilling rigs, rock drilling rigs, scrapers, flotation machines and other infrastructure to realize the intelligent operation of the mineral processing production system. For copper smelters, we will accelerate the implementation of the automation transformation of key processes such as batching, smelting, blowing, refining, and electrolysis, realize real-time data monitoring perception and unified collection management, and improve intelligent management functions such as automatic control, production management, equipment management, and safety and environmental management. For copper processing plants, we will accelerate the automation transformation of key processes such as smelting, casting, rolling, extrusion, annealing, and finishing, realize real-time production monitoring perception and data collection, and build a centralized control center that integrates automation, informatization, and centralized management modes to realize centralized control of production operations, production lines, and public utilities.
(V) Improving the level of openness and cooperation
11. Strengthen international investment cooperation. Give full play to the advantages of copper smelting processes, technologies, equipment, standards, and services, and in accordance with market principles, strengthen international mutually beneficial cooperation, integrate into the global copper industry chain and supply chain, and improve cross-border business capabilities and levels. Guide enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities, encourage enterprises to carry out public welfare activities and support community development in the country of investment, and create good community relations. Make full use of international innovation resources, encourage foreign high-end processing companies to invest and build factories in my country, support domestic companies to participate in international intelligent manufacturing, new materials and other scientific and technological cooperation, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in research and development, standards, talent training, etc. (The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Natural Resources are responsible for their respective duties)
12. Improve the level of foreign trade cooperation. Encourage the export of high-end copper-based new materials and products and other deep-processed products. Encourage copper smelting enterprises to sign long-term procurement agreements with foreign mining companies and increase the import of primary products such as crude copper and anode copper. Implement the import policy of recycled copper raw materials and encourage the import of high-quality recycled copper raw materials that meet national policy requirements. Give full play to the price discovery role of futures and provide guarantees for corporate risk management. (Led by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and participated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Administration of Customs)



III. Safeguard Measures
13. Strengthen organizational leadership. Relevant departments and units should, in accordance with the tasks determined in this plan, strengthen the coordination and cooperation of fiscal, financial, investment, import and export policies and industrial policies to further unleash the policy effects. Key provinces (regions) should, based on local realities, include the main goals and key tasks determined in this plan in the relevant industrial planning and major project lists of the region, and clarify the responsible entities and progress requirements. Coordinate regional resource development, factor guarantee and policy support, include resource development project approval, production and full capacity, supply and price stability and other tasks into the region's annual key tasks, implement ledger management, regularly check the implementation results, and solidly promote the implementation of various policies and measures. (Each department is responsible for its division of responsibilities)
14. Strengthen policy support. Coordinate existing funding channels such as major national science and technology projects to promote the improvement of key technology research capabilities in the copper industry chain. Deepen industrial-financial cooperation, give full play to the role of the national industrial-financial cooperation platform, and guide financial institutions to accurately and effectively support the construction and upgrading of major copper industry projects that meet industry norms, self-discipline conventions and other conditions. Encourage qualified enterprises to carry out copper concentrate processing trade. Implement tax policies such as comprehensive resource utilization. Strengthen the assessment and guidance of relevant state-owned enterprises, and encourage more resource development, technological innovation and achievement transformation. Optimize the copper concentrate inspection and supervision model, and improve the efficiency of import customs clearance of copper resource products. (Each department is responsible for its duties and responsibilities)
15. Create a favorable environment. Encourage relevant industry organizations to play a bridging role, actively serve the development of enterprises, and carry out activities such as quality improvement, brand building, and promotion of new technologies and new products. Closely track product prices, social inventory, capacity utilization, market supply, etc.
According to the changes in demand, the industry prosperity index and operation report will be released to guide enterprises to make rational investments and scientific decisions. Improve the construction of the copper industry standard system and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into standards. Improve the standard conditions of the copper smelting industry, create a group of industry benchmark enterprises, and guide the green and intelligent development of the industry. Research and formulate industry integrity white lists, copper industry self-discipline conventions, etc., strengthen industry self-discipline, and guide enterprises to operate in a standardized manner. (Each department is responsible for its duties and responsibilities)