SHANGHAI, Sep 15, 2011 (Dow Jones) -- China Minmetals Group's nonferrous unit is targeting copper resources of 25 million metric tons by 2015 from 11.2 million tons in 2011, a senior executive from the unit said Friday.

Jin Xiaoguang, deputy general manager of China Minmetals Non-Ferrous Metals Co., said he expects copper demand in China to remain firm in the next few years, underpinned by a strong fabricating sector, which is a direct consumer.

"Fabricating capacity is more than 10 million tons, big enough to guarantee copper consumption," Jin said on the sidelines of a Metal Bulletin conference.