By Amy Lv, Dylan Duan and Ryan Woo

BEIJING (Reuters) -China is studying ways to strengthen regulation on the expansion of copper smelting capacity, a state news outlet said on Thursday, as persistently low processing fees have reduced smelting profits.

Chen Xuesen, vice chairman at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, was quoted as telling a meeting on Wednesday that low concentrate processing fees were the “most prominent” problem the industry faces.

The low fees stem from what is known in China as “involution-style” competition, or competition so fierce that it is self-destructive. It follows a major expansion of smelting capacity that outpaced mined supply and tightened availability of concentrate.

“Involution-style competition has hurt interests for both the industry a

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