BEIJING, Nov. 13 -- China's copper products output increased by about one million tons annually in the past three years, with its proportion in the world output rising by 10 percentage points year on year, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Conference from November 11 to 12.

    The country produced 5.32 million tons of copper products in 2006, 6.3 million tons in 2007 and 7.47 million tons in 2008, respectively accounting for 30 percent, 40 percent and 50 percent of the world total.

    China's copper output in the January-October period of this year came to 3.48 million tons, up 9.7 percent year on year, the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. Its copper imports in the period climbed by 70.2 percent to 3.63 million tons.

    The conference, jointly sponsored by the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association and Chinalco, is to discuss sustainable development strategies for nonferrous metals processing and new materials industries.

    (Source: chinamining.org)