China plans to shut down more outdated production capacity this year in a variety of sectors including power, coal, steel, coking coal, ferroalloy, calcium carbide and nonferrous metal to force industry upgrading and energy saving and emission reductions.

The country will close more than 50 gigawatts (GW) of small coal-fired power generators and 8,000 small coal mines this year, the State Council, China's cabinet, said in a document published Tuesday.

China ousted more than 50 GW of small coal-burning power generators in the four years through 2009, one year ahead of a goal set for the period between 2006 and 2010, part of Beijing's efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution.

It said in 2007 that it would bring down the number of national small coal mines, amounting to more than 17,000 then, to below 10,000 by the end of 2010, but actual progress has not gone very well in at least the first few years.

All steel blast furnaces of less than 400 cubic meters each are also being targeted for closure by the end of 2011, the State Council document showed.

It said all mill furnaces below 6,300 kilovolts that make ferroalloy and calcium carbide will be ousted by the end of this year, and small coking coal and electrolytic aluminium makers will also be closed.