China's industry ministry to revise copper, aluminium rules to curb duplicate building
In short
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on 20 October that it will revise industry norms and regulations for copper, aluminium and other sectors to curb low-level duplicate construction. Spokesperson Tao Qing (陶青) also said revenue and profit in the nonferrous metals industry kept growing at high speed in January to August.
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China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on 20 October that it will revise industry norms and regulations for copper, aluminium and other sectors, with the aim of firmly curbing low-level duplicate construction. Tao Qing (陶青), the ministry's spokesperson and director of its Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau, spoke at a State Council Information Office press conference on industrial and information technology development in the first three quarters of 2026. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Tao said that in January to August the nonferrous metals industry's revenue and profit kept growing at high speed and that the industry's innovation capacity continued to strengthen. The ministry said it will keep working on stabilising growth and promoting transformation, and will push high-quality development of the industry through work in three areas. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
The first area is policy guidance. The ministry said it will carry out the 15th Five-Year Plan for the raw materials sector, strengthen policy coordination between departments, and promote wider use of quality products in new energy, high-end equipment and the low-altitude economy. The second is industrial upgrading: deepening a major special project on new materials, speeding up work on key core technologies for high-end materials, and using the industry's green and low-carbon public service platform. It will also draft an AI+ Nonferrous Metals Industry Implementation Guide and a guide for building the industry's standards system, to lead development that is, in the ministry's words, new, green and intelligent. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
The third area is capacity governance. The ministry said it will introduce monitoring and early warning of capacity risks for key products, strictly enforce the electrolytic aluminium capacity replacement policy, and tightly control new smelting capacity for alumina, copper and other metals. It said it will revise the norms and regulations for copper, aluminium and other sectors, firmly curb low-level duplicate construction and create a fair, healthy and orderly market environment. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
CLS, Yicai, 36Kr and Jiemian carried the statements in near-identical wording. Yicai and 36Kr credited Securities Times, and Jiemian credited People's Finance News (人民财讯). None of the reports gives a date for the revisions. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The ministry framed the revisions as part of tighter control over capacity in nonferrous metals, including new smelting capacity for alumina and copper. The documents give no dates or details for the revised rules, so their effect is not yet known.
Key facts
- The State Council Information Office held a press conference on industrial and information technology development in the first three quarters of 2026. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Tao Qing (陶青), who is also director of its Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau, said the ministry will revise industry norms and regulations for copper, aluminium and other sectors. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Tao said nonferrous metals industry revenue and profit kept growing at high speed in January to August, and that the industry's innovation capacity continued to strengthen. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The ministry said it will strictly enforce the electrolytic aluminium capacity replacement policy and tightly control new smelting capacity for alumina, copper and other metals. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The ministry said it will draft an AI+ Nonferrous Metals Industry Implementation Guide and a guide for building the industry's standards system. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- At a State Council Information Office press conference on 20 October, ministry spokesperson Tao Qing said the ministry will revise industry norms and regulations for copper, aluminium and other sectors to firmly curb low-level duplicate construction. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Tao said nonferrous metals industry revenue and profit kept growing at high speed in January to August. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- When the revised copper and aluminium industry rules will be issued and what they will change The documents report only the intention to revise them and give no timetable or content.