China unveils merger targets to upgrade industry

At the same time, the country will work to cut a large number of steel producing enterprises and phase out outdated capacity through mergers, in a bid to raise the concentration ratio of top ten steel producers to around 60 percent by 2015.

China will also slash the number of firms in the rare earth business through mergers and concentrate production capacity in the sector into a number of large enterprises, the guideline says.

The country aims to promote mergers in the remaining six sectors, and will try to raise the concentrate ratios of leading enterprises in those fields by 2015.

In November, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the country will step up efforts in industrial structure adjustment in 2013.

A central economic work conference in December agreed that the government would work to adjust industrial structure and resolve overcapacity problems that have hobbled some sectors.