CMRA Forum: Chinese Government Vows to Invest

When 2012 begins so will China’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan, which apparently promises yet more government investment in nonferrous metals production and recycling.

Speakers from several government ministries told attendees of the 2011 Secondary Metals International Forum, organized by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA), that the comprehensive plan includes budgeted funds for capital investments.

“Providing more support to our secondary metals industry [and] environmental protection” is what CMRA vice president and secretary-general Wang Jiwei said he anticipates from the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.

Addressing Forum attendees, Li Jing of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC) also commented that the new central government plan is designed to support “more production capacity” for the secondary nonferrous metals industry. This includes “special funds for pilot projects” for recycling-related ventures that help support the Circular Economy initiative being championed by Beijing, she indicated.

Li also remarked that funding for emissions reduction also will be made available to some producers of secondary metals.

“The nonferrous metals industry has achieved great success [after] several years of development,” stated Li Xinmin of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). While most of Li’s comments referred to environmental requirements that metals producers and recyclers will be expected to meet, he also said that the Twelfth Five-Year Plan “offers very strong support” to companies striving to meet environmental compliance standards.

A speaker from the China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) referred to the nonferrous metals industry as “an important basic industry for our economy” and remarked that “we still have more potential to grow the demand” for secondary nonferrous metals.

Bolstering technology innovations for metals producers and recyclers “is something that the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) is prioritizing,” said a speaker from that Chinese agency.

“In the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, we are going to promote efficiency and research and development,” the MoST delegate commented. He referred to “low-pollution technology” that exists in other countries that will become more common in China if the plan is carried out.

The CMRA’s 11th Secondary Metals International Forum was in Guangzhou, China, Nov. 7-9, 2011.