According to the Zhitong Finance APP, on April 29, at the press conference organized by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association regarding the operation of the nonferrous metals industry in the first quarter of 2025, Li Yusheng, Director of the Policy Research Office, stated that in 2024, China exported 254,000 tons of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products to the United States, a decrease of 62% compared to 2017, with the proportion dropping from 14.1% to 3.8%. The United States has fallen from being China’s largest aluminum export destination to the sixth position; the export volume of copper products to the United States only accounted for 4.6% of China’s total exports. Coupled with some exemptions, the impact of this “reciprocal tariff” on China’s nonferrous metals industry is limited. However, under such high “reciprocal tariffs,” the indirect impact on nonferrous metal consumption in downstream major application areas, such as home appliances, consumer electronics, machinery equipment, and light industry, cannot be ignored after product exports to the United States are restricted.
Chen Xuesen, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President and Spokesperson of the Association, introduced that in the complex domestic and international economic environment, the nonferrous metals industry achieved a total profit growth of 40.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, showcasing the resilience and vitality of the industry. From the perspective of profit distribution along the industrial chain, in the first quarter, the profit proportions of China’s nonferrous metal mining, smelting, and processing industries accounted for 28.3%, 59.5%, and 12.2% of the total industry profit, respectively. Compared to the same period last year, the profit share from the mining sector has further increased, while the processing sector has decreased.
The transcript is as follows:
On April 29, at the press conference organized by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association regarding the operation of the nonferrous metals industry in the first quarter of 2025, Chen Xuesen, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President and Spokesperson of the Association, Li Yusheng, Director of the Policy Research Office, and Wang Huaiguo, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology, answered questions from media reporters and corporate representatives. Feng Yuncong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the China Nonferrous Metals News, hosted the press conference.
Xinhua News Agency: The government work report proposes to cultivate and grow emerging industries and future industries. The emerging industry sector requires product and technology support based on nonferrous metal elements. In recent years, what breakthroughs have been made in the main technological innovation areas of the industry? Please focus on one or two highlights. Green and low-carbon technology will become a new competitive high ground for the nonferrous metals industry. Please introduce the progress of the nonferrous metals industry’s “dual carbon” work from the association’s perspective.
Wang Huaiguo: The nonferrous metals industry is an important basic raw material industry and a crucial material support for building a strong manufacturing country, developing and expanding strategic emerging industries, cultivating future industries, and ensuring the development of national defense, military industry, and aerospace. For many years, the nonferrous metals industry has adhered to the path of innovation-driven high-quality development, mobilizing the entire industry to tackle key core technology challenges. Continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation have been achieved in the efficient development and utilization of strategic key nonferrous metal resources, high-end material research and development, digitalization and intelligent manufacturing, resource recycling, and green low-carbon technologies, providing solid raw material support for the development of high-end industries such as photovoltaics and other new energy sources, power and energy storage batteries, new energy vehicles, next-generation electronic information, aerospace, high-speed rail, and national defense military industry
In the field of power and energy storage battery materials, many domestic research institutions have developed advanced lithium extraction technologies such as ion sieve adsorption-membrane methods for China’s high magnesium-lithium ratio salt lake resources through decades of continuous technological breakthroughs. For China’s abundant low-grade lithium mica resources, advanced process technologies such as low-temperature sulfuric acid methods have been developed. Research and development units represented by China ENFI Engineering Corporation have developed core technologies and equipment for high-pressure acid leaching of low-grade laterite nickel ore… These new processes and technologies effectively address the challenges of lithium extraction from high magnesium-lithium ratio salt lakes, lithium extraction from lithium mica, and the development and utilization of low-grade laterite nickel ore, providing solid raw material support for the development of power batteries and new energy vehicles in China and globally.
In the field of advanced non-ferrous metal materials, through technological breakthroughs, the production scale and product quality of non-ferrous metal materials in aerospace, high-speed rail, large power equipment, photovoltaics, new energy vehicles, and integrated circuits have reached international advanced levels. The 7N-grade high-purity indium for 5G communication chips and 6N-grade high-purity copper for integrated circuits have achieved mass application, while large-scale ultra-high-purity nickel and platinum targets have broken foreign technological monopolies, achieving self-control. The research and application technologies for sintered neodymium-iron-boron magnetic materials, lithium iron phosphate, and other new energy materials have reached world advanced levels, effectively ensuring the development needs of the new generation of electronic information, new energy, and high-end equipment industries.
In terms of “dual carbon,” in recent years, the non-ferrous metal industry has deeply studied and implemented Xi Jinping’s ecological civilization thought, anchoring the “dual carbon” goals. Through green low-carbon technological innovation, process optimization, and industrial model innovation, the industry promotes emission reduction throughout its entire lifecycle and the efficient recycling of resources. The industry’s “dual carbon” efforts have made positive progress, significantly improving the level of green low-carbon development, and green, low-carbon, and sustainable development has become a consensus in the non-ferrous metal industry.
First, innovate low-carbon green technologies. Focus on research around low-carbon innovative technologies such as energy-saving and electricity-saving aluminum electrolysis cells, inert anodes, efficient short-process smelting of copper, lead, and zinc, and the utilization of medium and low-temperature waste heat in pyrometallurgy, and build a number of advanced technology demonstration projects for green low-carbon development to support the industry’s green low-carbon transformation.
Second, accelerate the promotion and application of advanced applicable technologies. Release the industry’s top ten advanced applicable technologies for green low-carbon, such as low-carbon composite cathode technology and equipment for aluminum electrolysis cells, organize the promotion of key technologies for energy-saving low-carbon intelligent electrolysis cells, continuous copper smelting, and establish a reserve library for advanced green low-carbon technology projects, continuously updating the reserve projects.
Third, improve the green low-carbon standard system. Develop a series of related standards around low-carbon products, product carbon footprints, and energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies, and formulate carbon footprint standards for major industry products. In October 2024, the first national standard for carbon footprints in the non-ferrous metal industry, “Quantification Methods and Requirements for Greenhouse Gas Product Carbon Footprints – Electrolytic Aluminum,” will be released and officially implemented from May 1, 2025. Research and revise the emission standards for pollutants in the copper, nickel, cobalt, lead, and zinc industries, and formulate technical specifications for the treatment of major pollutants to safeguard the green low-carbon development of the non-ferrous metal industry.
Fourth, vigorously develop the recycled non-ferrous metal industry. The energy-saving and carbon-reduction effects of recycled non-ferrous metals are significant, becoming a driving force for achieving the “dual carbon” goals of the non-ferrous metal industry. The non-ferrous metal industry will adhere to maximizing resource recycling, orderly guiding and optimizing the layout of the recycled metal industry, improving the standard system for recycled non-ferrous metals, promoting the construction of a recycling and comprehensive utilization system for recycled non-ferrous metal resources, expanding the use of recycled non-ferrous metals, and enhancing the level of resource utilization to assist the non-ferrous metal industry in energy-saving and carbon-reduction efforts
Fifth, create an innovative joint body for green and low-carbon development. Accelerate the construction of a public service platform for the green and low-carbon development of the non-ferrous metal industry, and the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) platform for the non-ferrous metal industry, improve the industry carbon emission database system, formulate product category rules, publish environmental declaration reports and carbon footprint reports, and assist the industry in green and low-carbon development.
Green development is the foundation of high-quality development. The non-ferrous metal industry will continue to firmly anchor the “dual carbon” goals, unwaveringly follow the path of ecological priority and green development, accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of the entire product lifecycle, and promote the green and high-quality development of the non-ferrous metal industry.
China Industrial News: On April 2, the U.S. government announced a 10% baseline tariff on all countries and imposed “reciprocal tariffs” on countries and regions with significant trade deficits with the U.S. However, metals such as copper, aluminum, gold, nickel, and lithium are not affected by the “reciprocal tariffs.” What impact will U.S. tariff policies have on China’s non-ferrous metal industry? How should Chinese non-ferrous metal enterprises respond? What measures does the association have?
Li Yusheng: Recently, the U.S. government has exerted extreme pressure on global trade partners, including China, under the guise of “reciprocal tariffs.” Although this round has exempted metals such as copper, aluminum, and gold, since the beginning of this year, the U.S. government has already imposed an additional 20% tariff on all imported products from our country, increasing the “301” and “232” tariffs on aluminum products from 10% to 25%, and has initiated a “232” investigation on copper.
Overall, since the occurrence of Sino-U.S. trade frictions in 2018-2019, China’s exports of non-ferrous metal products to the U.S. have significantly decreased. In 2024, China’s exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products to the U.S. will be 254,000 tons, a decrease of 62% compared to 2017, with the proportion dropping from 14.1% to 3.8%. The U.S. has fallen from being China’s largest aluminum export destination to the sixth position; the export volume of copper products to the U.S. only accounts for 4.6% of our total exports, and with some exemptions, the direct impact of this “reciprocal tariff” on China’s non-ferrous metal industry is limited. However, under such high “reciprocal tariffs,” the indirect impact on the consumption of non-ferrous metals in downstream major application areas, such as home appliances, consumer electronics, machinery and equipment, and light industry, cannot be ignored after product exports to the U.S. are restricted.
In the next step, the association will work under the specific guidance of relevant national departments, collaborating with industry enterprises to actively respond to trade frictions and minimize the direct and indirect impacts of U.S. tariffs. Industry enterprises should also solidly strengthen their internal capabilities, continuously promote the quality and upgrading of their products, and enhance their core competitiveness. At the same time, enterprises should flexibly adjust their export strategies, actively strengthen trade cooperation with countries along the “Belt and Road,” especially in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, continuously explore emerging markets, and further enhance high-level exports.
Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd.: In the first quarter, large-scale non-ferrous metal industrial enterprises achieved a significant year-on-year increase in total profits. Please introduce the core drivers of profit growth and the distribution of the industry, as well as the risk factors that may affect the high-quality development of the industry in the future
Chen Xuesen: In the complex domestic and international economic environment, the non-ferrous metal industry achieved a total profit growth of 40.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, showcasing the resilience and vitality of the industry. The core driving factors are as follows: First, non-ferrous metal prices are running at high levels. At the beginning of 2025, the global economy faces shocks from U.S. tariffs. Due to the demand for hedging against U.S. import tariffs, a large amount of non-ferrous metals were exported to the U.S. in the first quarter, affecting the supply and demand pattern of the global market. Meanwhile, with the ongoing geopolitical tensions and concerns over U.S. debt, expectations for a shift in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy towards easing have increased, further enhancing the financial attributes of important non-ferrous metals such as gold. Countries are increasing their reserves of gold and major non-ferrous metals, driving prices to remain high. In the first quarter, domestic spot prices for copper, aluminum, lead, and zinc rose by 11.4%, 7.3%, 5.9%, and 14.8% year-on-year, respectively. Second, the effects of domestic demand expansion policies are continuously emerging. With a series of stable growth policy measures from the government, especially the “Two New” policies and the implementation of the old-for-new action, combined with monetary and fiscal policy support for real enterprises and infrastructure investment, consumption growth has been stimulated, directly driving the consumption of bulk metals such as copper and aluminum. Third, the “new three types” industries, including new energy, power and energy storage batteries, and electric vehicles, continue to grow at a high speed, along with the sustained development of strategic emerging industries such as the new generation of electronic information, leading to a continuous increase in market demand for non-ferrous metal products. Fourth, effective control of production costs by enterprises, coupled with stable or declining prices of energy and some raw and auxiliary materials, has resulted in a lower increase in cost expenses compared to the increase in operating income, thereby enhancing industry profit margins. Additionally, influenced by seasonal market demand, the prices of by-products such as sulfuric acid are also relatively favorable.
From the perspective of profit distribution along the industrial chain, in the first quarter, the profit proportions of China’s non-ferrous metal mining and selection industry, smelting industry, and processing industry accounted for 28.3%, 59.5%, and 12.2% of the total industry profit, respectively. Compared to the same period last year, the profit share of the mining and selection end has further increased, while the processing end has decreased. From the perspective of industry distribution, aluminum accounts for 37.1%, copper for 21.0%, gold for 11.0%, tungsten and molybdenum for 10.7%, and lead and zinc for 7.4%. From the perspective of product distribution, aluminum smelting accounts for 54.3% of the profits realized in the non-ferrous metal smelting industry, while copper mines, gold mines, lead and zinc mines, and tungsten and molybdenum mines account for 35.9%, 22.3%, 19.4%, and 12.2% of the profits realized in the non-ferrous metal mining and selection industry, respectively. The above data reflect that the main varieties of non-ferrous metals in China continue the development trend of the previous year, with rare metals such as gold and tungsten and molybdenum also showing a good development trend due to their special application fields.
Despite the industry’s high-speed growth, it is still necessary to guard against the following risks. First, the escalation of international trade barriers, with the U.S. “reciprocal tariff” policy becoming the biggest risk variable affecting global economic growth. The intensification of international trade friction has a significant impact on industries such as home appliances, consumer electronics, machinery equipment, light industry, and other countries’ re-export trade of photovoltaic and automotive parts, which will directly affect China’s non-ferrous metal consumption market and price fluctuations. Second, international resource supply disturbances. Due to China’s high dependence on imports of key mineral resources, any policy changes in major resource countries or disruptions in production and transportation due to natural weather and human factors will lead to supply shortages and price fluctuations, affecting the normal production and operation of enterprises
The “involution” in the smelting and processing industry has further worsened, with prominent contradictions in the unreasonable industrial structure. As of the end of March, the spot processing fee for copper concentrate has dropped to -26 USD/ton; in April, affected by trade frictions, the spot processing fee fell below -30 USD/ton. The sluggish processing fees directly impact the operational efficiency of smelting enterprises, and zinc smelting faces the same situation. In the first quarter, processing enterprises faced pressures such as poor price transmission, low-price competition due to overcapacity, and restrictions from international trade protectionism, resulting in a year-on-year decline in profits, with a clear divergence from upstream sectors.
Economic Daily: The government work report proposes to continuously promote the “Artificial Intelligence +” initiative, better integrating digital technology with manufacturing advantages and market advantages, and supporting the widespread application of large models. The non-ferrous metals industry is an important raw material sector. Have industry enterprises made any arrangements in the “Artificial Intelligence +” area? What significant breakthroughs and progress have been made currently, and what difficulties and challenges still need to be overcome in the future? What plans are there in actions such as building industry large models?
Wang Huaiguo: The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party and the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee have made important discussions and comprehensive deployments regarding China’s digital transformation and artificial intelligence construction. This year’s government work report proposes to continuously promote the “Artificial Intelligence +” initiative, which points the way for the digital and intelligent development of the non-ferrous metals industry.
The non-ferrous metals industry is an important basic raw material sector and a key industry for digital transformation in China’s industrial field. In recent years, the non-ferrous metals industry has adhered to digital empowerment for high-quality development, vigorously promoted informatization, digitalization, and intelligent work, and facilitated the integration and innovative application of artificial intelligence technology, achieving positive progress.
Under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the association, in collaboration with relevant units, jointly initiated the establishment of the Digital Transformation Promotion Center for the non-ferrous metals industry to promote the industry’s digital transformation work; the association has set up a Digital Non-Ferrous Office to build the “Digital Non-Ferrous” platform for China’s non-ferrous metal industry, promoting the digitalization of the non-ferrous metals industry and data collaboration and sharing. On December 26, 2024, the first artificial intelligence large model in the non-ferrous metals industry—”Kun’an” artificial intelligence large model—was officially released, reshaping the entire business process of geological exploration, mineral extraction, smelting processing, and recycling in the non-ferrous metals sector through artificial intelligence.
In recent years, non-ferrous enterprises have actively laid out plans, fully utilizing new-generation information technology to promote the construction of digital and intelligent mines. According to incomplete statistics, since the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories, 38 national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories in the non-ferrous metals industry, over 60 innovative leading application cases of internet platforms, and excellent intelligent manufacturing scenarios have been selected. The digitalization level of newly established mines, smelting, and processing enterprises is at an internationally leading position.
While the non-ferrous metals industry’s digitalization and intelligent work have achieved results, it also faces some challenges. First, the data foundation is weak, with uneven data quality, making it difficult to support the training and optimization of artificial intelligence models, and there are technical bottlenecks in real-time data collection and analysis; second, there is insufficient technical adaptability. Due to the complex processes in the non-ferrous metals industry, existing artificial intelligence algorithms struggle to fully meet the demands in terms of stability, versatility, and real-time performance, lacking dedicated artificial intelligence models; third, there is a lack of a unified “Artificial Intelligence +” standard system and relevant general standards for the non-ferrous metals industry, which restricts the collaborative development between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain
Fourth, there is a shortage of high-end talent familiar with non-ferrous metallurgy processes and digitalization, and it is urgent to accelerate the cultivation of composite talents.
In terms of building industry large models, the association will collaborate with leading enterprises in the industry, universities, research institutions, and digital service companies to focus on three main areas of work. First, strengthen the data foundation by constructing a cloud data platform for the non-ferrous metal industry that covers the entire process of mining, smelting, and processing, achieving real-time management of multi-source data and value mining of historical data; second, develop artificial intelligence models for vertical scenarios such as intelligent mining selection and smelting process optimization, conduct model evaluations, and vigorously promote excellent application scenarios; third, improve the talent cultivation system for digitalization and informatization, taking multiple measures to promote the joint training of “non-ferrous metallurgy processes + artificial intelligence” composite talents in collaboration with schools and enterprises, accelerating the cultivation of urgently needed digital and informatization engineers and technical skilled personnel in the industry.
China Nonferrous Metals News: Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Copper Industry (2025-2027)” and the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Aluminum Industry (2025-2027)”, which point out the direction for the development of the copper and aluminum industries. What impact will the release of these two plans have on the industry? How should industry enterprises implement the relevant requirements of the plans? In what ways will the association assist in the implementation of the plans?
Chen Xuesen: The core of the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Copper Industry (2025-2027)” can be summarized in four words: ensure resources, control capacity, strengthen technology, and promote green development. Its impact on the industry mainly has three aspects: first, the security of resource supply will be enhanced. Through the “dual-wheel drive” of increasing domestic reserves and international cooperation, the construction and development of important domestic copper mines will accelerate, coupled with the improvement of the recycled copper recovery network, it is expected that the dependence on foreign copper resources will gradually decrease. Second, the expansion of smelting capacity will be effectively restrained. The plan clearly states that smelting capacity must be strictly controlled, requiring new copper smelting capacity to be matched with corresponding rights to copper concentrate capacity. Currently, it is difficult for domestic projects to meet this requirement. Third, the industrial layout will continue to extend to both ends, especially in the downstream materials sector. By establishing a pilot platform for copper-based new materials and a collaborative entity for industry-university-research, it will promote the realization of import substitution for high-end products and enhance the self-controllable capability of the industrial chain. Fourth, industrial development will be greener and more low-carbon.
For copper industry enterprises, the following aspects need to be implemented. First, it is recommended that enterprises do not blindly launch copper smelting projects to avoid unnecessary losses due to violations. Second, focus on resources; the plan mentions that domestic copper mine resources should increase by 5% to 10% by 2027, and enterprises with copper mines should strengthen resource exploration efforts, achieving increased reserves and production through a new round of mineral exploration breakthroughs, while effectively utilizing intelligent mining technology to reduce mining costs. Third, focus on technological innovation; enterprises with conditions should increase investment in innovation fields, especially focusing on key areas, key technologies, and key materials to meet the material needs of emerging industries and future industries downstream. Fourth, gather for green and intelligent transformation; accelerate the construction of green mines and green factories, and enterprises with conditions should speed up their intelligent transformation
The association will promote the implementation of the plan from the following four aspects: First, strengthen policy coordination and standard guidance, cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to promote the publicity and implementation of regulations, and guide enterprises to invest rationally and make scientific decisions; Second, carry out the revision of the access conditions for copper smelting and create a number of industry benchmark enterprises; Third, promote the industry’s green and intelligent advancement through the association’s digital transformation promotion center, green product evaluation center, ESG research center, etc.; Fourth, carry out activities such as quality improvement, brand building, and promotion of new technologies and products, build a platform, and actively serve enterprise development.
The “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Aluminum Industry (2025-2027)” clearly states that it is necessary to fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development concept, with deepening supply-side structural reform as the main line, and innovation as the fundamental driving force, to guide the high-quality development of the industry. The implementation of the plan will significantly enhance the resilience and safety level of the aluminum industry chain and supply chain, providing a solid guarantee for the construction of a strong aluminum industry in the context of Chinese-style modernization.
To implement the requirements of the plan, industry enterprises should focus on strengthening resource guarantees, optimizing industrial structure, enhancing technological innovation, and promoting green and intelligent transformation, actively participate in mineral resource exploration and development, strictly control new capacity investment, accelerate intelligent manufacturing and breakthroughs in key technologies, and comprehensively promote green and low-carbon development. At the same time, relevant industry standards should be implemented, and the exemplary leading role of leading enterprises, specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprises, and “single champion” high-quality enterprises should be actively leveraged to effectively enhance the core competitiveness and sustainable development capability of China’s aluminum industry.
Implementing the plan is an important task for China’s aluminum industry in the next three years and an unshirkable responsibility of the association. First, further enhance publicity and implementation efforts. Utilize various meetings and media, adopt multiple methods to promote the plan, ensure that industry enterprises fully understand the industry status, target tasks, and measures, align their thoughts and efforts, and consciously integrate the plan into their development strategies, production operations, and investment activities. Second, further expand the application of aluminum products. Based on the existing work of replacing copper with aluminum, wood with aluminum, steel with aluminum, and plastic with aluminum, further strengthen cooperation with related industries, enhance upstream and downstream connections, and further expand the application fields, scale, and levels of aluminum products to promote the growth of aluminum consumption. Third, further improve risk warning. To ensure the safety and controllability of the aluminum industry chain and supply chain, we will continue to closely monitor changes in aluminum product prices, social inventory, capacity utilization rates, and market supply and demand, timely release the aluminum industry prosperity index and operation reports, and guide industry enterprises to invest rationally and make scientific decisions. Fourth, further strengthen industry self-discipline. In response to the overheating of investments in alumina and aluminum processing, we will strengthen communication with industry enterprises, enhance industry self-discipline, prevent low-level repeated construction and inefficient price wars, avoid “involution” vicious competition, and guide enterprises in equipment upgrades, traditional industry upgrades, and the cultivation of emerging industries, accelerating the aluminum industry towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, creating a favorable environment for the sustainable and healthy development of the aluminum industry.
Henan Yuguang Gold Lead Group Co., Ltd.: In January this year, the establishment conference of the digital transformation promotion center for the non-ferrous metal industry was held in Beijing. The conference mentioned that the industry still faces issues such as the lack of a unified quantitative scientific evaluation index system for the current state of digital transformation
What key indicators does this assessment system include? Does the association plan to release industry standards or implementation guidelines for digital transformation?
Wang Huaiguo: In recent years, the association has placed great emphasis on the digital transformation of the non-ferrous metal industry. In accordance with the spirit of the “Digital Transformation Work Plan for the Raw Materials Industry (2024-2026),” the association has issued the “Project List for Intelligent Manufacturing and Digital Transformation Standards in the Non-Ferrous Metal Industry (2024-2026),” to assist the industry’s digital transformation and intelligent development. In response to the current lack of scientifically unified quantitative indicators for digital transformation in the non-ferrous metal industry, the association is actively promoting the construction of an industry digital transformation assessment system. Starting from May 2024, the association, in collaboration with the China Industrial Internet Research Institute, China Aluminum Group, and other organizations, has been developing the industry standard “Maturity Assessment for Digital Transformation in the Non-Ferrous Metal Industry,” which has now been completed and is expected to be officially released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the near future.
This standard is applicable to the mining, smelting, processing, and comprehensive enterprises in the non-ferrous metal industry, as well as digital transformation service providers and third-party organizations conducting digital transformation maturity assessments. The digital transformation assessment system for the non-ferrous metal industry includes a basic common capability domain and an industry-specific capability domain. The basic common capability domain consists of six indicators: organization, technology, data, resources, digital operation, and benefits; the industry-specific capability domain includes four indicators: technology, digital operation, digital production, and digital services, with each indicator containing several capability sub-indicators. The maturity of digital transformation in the non-ferrous metal industry is categorized into five levels. The implementation of this standard can help enterprises identify their digital capabilities, understand their intelligent manufacturing capability levels, and effectively guide enterprises in systematically advancing digital transformation, achieving standardization and normalization in the transformation process.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Key Points for Standardization Work in Industry and Information Technology for 2025.” The non-ferrous metal industry will earnestly implement these standard work points, focusing on digital R&D simulation, digital supply chains, and classification and grading of digital transformation service providers in the mining, smelting, and processing sectors, to accelerate the establishment of a scientific and comprehensive digital transformation standard system. At the same time, the industry will actively participate in the formulation of international digital transformation standards and technical exchanges, enhancing the international discourse power of the non-ferrous metal industry.
China Nonferrous Metals Magazine: In recent years, emerging industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology have been developing rapidly. How does non-ferrous metal position itself in these areas, and what applications are there? Can enterprises consider entering or laying out in these fields?
Li Yusheng: Industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology are key areas for cultivating and developing new productive forces in our country, with promising futures. The rapid development of these emerging and future industries will inevitably pose new technical performance and quantity demands on non-ferrous metal materials, representing a significant opportunity for the development of the non-ferrous metal industry. For example, aluminum, magnesium, and lithium are essential lightweight materials for commercial aerospace and low-altitude economy; titanium is known as “space metal” and “ocean metal,” playing an irreplaceable role in commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology; rare earths are referred to as “industrial vitamins”; and there are also new energy metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium, as well as rare metals like tantalum, germanium, zirconium, and rhenium… These non-ferrous metal materials will provide crucial material support for the development and growth of emerging industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology, further highlighting the important role and strategic position of non-ferrous metals
For many years, enterprises in the non-ferrous metal industry have placed great emphasis on the development of advanced materials in fields such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology, with some leading companies already at the forefront. For example, China Aluminum Group and Nanshan Group have focused on the research and production of high-end aluminum-magnesium-lithium lightweight alloy materials, while BaoTi Group has been engaged in the research and production of titanium alloy materials. These materials support the country’s major projects to “go to the sky and enter the sea.” Additionally, Minmetals is leading the establishment of a future industry innovation consortium for deep and deep-sea mineral resource exploration and development. It is believed that more industry enterprises will join in the future and increase R&D investment, continuously developing various advanced new materials of non-ferrous metals to support the accelerated development of emerging and future industries.
“Resource Recycling” Magazine: Under the guidance of the “dual carbon” goals, how will the country promote the upgrade of the recycled metal industry to high value-added fields through policy and technological innovation? At the same time, how to build a more resilient international resource cooperation system to reduce external dependence risks?
Li Yusheng: This year’s government work report has made new deployments for the continuous deepening of the development of the resource recycling industry, namely “strengthening waste recycling, vigorously promoting the use of recycled materials, and promoting the development of the circular economy.” The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance issued the “Notice on Implementing Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Replacement Policies by 2025,” implementing special actions for the promotion and application of recycled materials, supporting production enterprises of automobiles, electrical appliances, and electronic products to increase the proportion of recycled materials used. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in conjunction with multiple departments, issued the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Copper Industry (2025-2027)” and the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of the Aluminum Industry (2025-2027),” proposing to strengthen the processing and distribution capacity of waste copper and aluminum, promote standardized recycling and refined sorting of raw materials, encourage the import of recycled copper and aluminum raw materials that meet the requirements, and support copper smelting and copper-aluminum processing enterprises to increase the proportion of recycled copper and aluminum used, promoting high-value utilization.
In terms of encouraging technological innovation, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the “Green Technology Promotion Catalog (2024 Edition),” which includes comprehensive recycling and utilization technology for waste lithium-ion batteries, comprehensive utilization technology for arsenic-containing waste residues in copper and gold smelting, and clean recovery technology for valuable components of waste power batteries, among others. They also encourage financial institutions to strengthen financing support for the application of green technologies in the catalog through green credit, green bonds, and carbon reduction support tools.
In 2024, China’s output of recycled non-ferrous metals reached 19.15 million tons, ranking first in the world for 15 consecutive years. The physical import volume of recycled copper and aluminum raw materials exceeded 4 million tons, accounting for 23% of the total raw material supply, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points compared to 2023, basically forming a raw material supply structure dominated by domestic recycling, with imports as an important supplement. At the same time, China is actively building a more resilient international resource cooperation system to reduce external risk impacts.
Firstly, the import management policy is continuously improved, and the variety of imports is constantly increasing. The new import management announcement for recycled copper and aluminum raw materials and related customs inspection procedures will be implemented starting November 2024, adding the import of recycled copper alloys such as brass, bronze, white copper, and high-copper that meet the indicator requirements, as well as recycled deformed aluminum alloys and recycled pure aluminum raw materials. The import management announcement for recycled black powder raw materials for lithium-ion batteries has completed the solicitation of opinions, and recycled black powder raw materials that meet the standards will be included in the category of free imports
In addition, the import management policy for sputtering targets is being advanced in an orderly manner, aiming to recycle and utilize key strategic metal resources such as tantalum, cobalt, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, and vanadium.
Secondly, foreign recycling factories are being established to expand the coverage of the recycling network. Following the establishment of dismantling and sorting recycling production lines for recycled non-ferrous metal raw materials in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia, Chinese enterprises have begun to set up sorting plants to recycle non-ferrous metal renewable resources in countries like Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, significantly expanding the sources of international recycled raw materials and enhancing the resilience of overseas renewable resource supply.
Thirdly, the number of countries importing raw materials has increased, and the sources of recycled raw materials are more diverse. Taking imported recycled aluminum raw materials as an example, the number of importing countries and regions has increased to 95, which is 6 more than in 2023. The number of countries and regions importing over 10,000 tons of recycled materials has reached 22, an increase of 4 compared to 2023.
Fourthly, customs has further optimized the business environment at ports to facilitate customs clearance. The General Administration of Customs has launched pilot projects for the transfer of recycled metal raw materials in inland areas, creating favorable conditions for import enterprises to reduce transportation and logistics costs and improve customs clearance efficiency. At the same time, it has comprehensively promoted the construction of smart customs, introducing sixteen specific measures to streamline processes, simplify procedures, and enhance efficiency, helping enterprises reduce costs and increase vitality, continuously improving the level of cross-border trade facilitation.
This article is from China Nonferrous Metals News, edited by Chen Wenfang of Zhitong Finance
