BEIJING — China's copper industry posted higher production and trade volume last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

In 2020, the output of copper products edged up 0.9 percent year-on-year to 20.46 million metric tons, said the MIIT, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The import and export value of copper products totaled $88.9 billion, up 9.1 percent year-on-year.

In breakdown, the import value grew 10.7 percent year-on-year to stand at $82.7 billion, while the export value totaled $6.3 billion, down 7.7 percent year-on-year.

The industry will continue to deepen supply-side structural reform, strictly control the disorderly expansion of copper smelting capacity, and fully tap the potential of using copper in fields such as new infrastructure and building industries, said the ministry.