A worker takes down freshly oxidized aluminum ferrules from a rack at a factory of a company in Luyi County, central China's Henan Province, June 17, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)

Beijing - Chinese authorities on Sunday unveiled a plan to support the growth of the non-ferrous metals industry, targeting an average annual growth of around 5 percent in the sector's value-added output from 2025 to 2026.

In 2025 and 2026, China expects the output of 10 major non-ferrous metals to grow by around 1.5 percent annually, according to the plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other government departments.

The plan also outlined tasks, including raising the annual output of recycled metals to over 20 million tonnes, providing more high-end products and improving the industry's green and low-carbon development.

To foster the industry's stable growth, the plan put forward measures such as seeking breakthroughs in developing ultra-purity metals and new advanced rare earth materials, and promoting the application of rare metals in emerging sectors like integrated circuits and artificial intelligence.

For recycled metals, China will support the establishment of resource recovery bases and strengthen the comprehensive utilization of scrap materials, including those from decommissioned batteries and photovoltaic modules.

China is also rolling out a series of stabilization measures targeting 10 key industries, namely, steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, machinery, automobiles, power equipment, light industry and electronic information manufacturing, which are vital to maintaining stability in the industrial economy and the broader national economy.