BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will revise a policy issued in 2014 to better regulate the domestic copper smelting industry.
At present, the authority is soliciting opinions on the new version of the policy which has put forward clearer requirements for the production process of the copper smelting industry.
In recent years, China has made great progress in the copper smelting process. The breakthrough in process technology has also brought about a new round of capacity expansion.
According to industry insiders, as of 2018, China's copper refining capacity had been close to 12 million metric tons (tonnes).
In order to further promote the high-quality development of the copper smelting industry, the new version of the policy suggests that copper smelting enterprises that use copper concentrates should adopt high-efficiency, advanced technology, low energy consumption, and environmental protection standards, etc.
The copper smelting enterprises that use secondary resources containing copper must also adopt advanced energy-saving, environmentally-friendly, clean production processes and equipment.
Meanwhile, China also encourages the qualified copper smelting enterprises to carry out smart factory construction and widely apply automated intelligent equipment, according to the new version of the policy. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)