China would put the brakes on its booming metals sector and encourage producers to invest in mining to reduce its need for high-priced raw material imports, a top official said Wednesday.    

Xiao Chunquan, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission, said China’s fast-growing metals capacity had pushed up world prices of raw materials, making imports more expensive.    

“I believe the era of large-scale expansions is over. The government will strengthen its controls,” Xiao said.    

Chinese metal producers have expanded rapidly in the last few years to feed an economy that grew 9.4 percent in the year through the first quarter of this year.    

However, the country’s mines had not kept pace, and China’s economic development would be threatened should it continue to rely on imported raw materials, said Xiao.    

Xiao said China last year spent over US$1 billion more importing alumina than it did in 2002. Some iron ore suppliers had raised their prices 71.5 percent this year, he said.    

Xiao said the Chinese Government would provide preferential policies and help finance Chinese companies searching overseas for resources, with iron ore and copper the top priority.    

He said the government was also encouraging Chinese companies to seek new resources and develop existing mines in the country’s central and western provinces. Those that mined low-grade ore could be given tax breaks, he added.    

China is the world’s top steel producer. Last year, it churned out 14.3 million tons of 10 major industrial metals, including copper, aluminum, nickel and zinc, making it the world’s largest combined producer of these metals.    

Since 2003, the Chinese Government has imposed measures, including credit curbs, higher power fees and export taxes, to limit growth in energy-intensive sectors like aluminum, steel and ferrous alloys.    

Although China’s metals industry is growing rapidly, industry officials noted the measures had slowed the rate of expansion.