BEIJING, June 16 -- The Chinese government on Thursday released a guideline on new capacity and reducing overcapacity in the non-ferrous metal sector.

The guideline aims to dissolve excess capacity and balance supply and demand of non-ferrous metals, the State Council, China's cabinet, said in a statement on its website.

The government will control new capacity for metals already with overcapacity, such as electrolytic aluminum, and take measures against illegal addition of capacity.

Non-ferrous metal producers are encouraged to cut low-efficiency capacity and make adjustments in development strategies.

The statement added that the country will optimize the sector's overall structure, raising the proportion of recycled non-ferrous metals.

Excess production capacity is a chronic problem for some non-ferrous metals. In 2015, production of 10 major non-ferrous metals -- aluminum, antimony, copper, lead, magnesium, mercury, nickel, stannum, titanium and zinc -- rose 5.8 percent to 50.9 million tonnes.