It was indeed his innovation for knowledge and success that prompted Chang — one of Hong Kong's financial services top brass — to quit the trust business arena where he had made his name and tap into the mutual fund market, joining Franklin Templeton's Hong Kong office some 18 years ago.

A Zippo Manufacturing Co employee loads brass lighter cases onto racks at the company's plant in Bradford, Pennsylvania, on March 21.

Copper, aluminum and brass among materials critical to revival of factoriesDemand for imported recycled metals, including secondary copper and aluminum, will continue to surge in China, thanks to the country's favorable policies to support the growth of both manufacturing and recycled metals, said officials and business owners.

In October, the government introduced a policy regulating the import of recycled brass, copper and cast aluminum alloys to better manage the purchase of certain recycled metals and supply more reclaimed production goods to factories across the country.

The policy measure took effect on Nov 1 and clearly stipulates that recycled brass raw materials, recycled copper raw materials and recycled cast aluminum alloys that meet the requirements of relevant national standards are not categorized as solid waste and can therefore be imported without legal restrictions, said Pan Cheng, director-general of the department of policy and legal affairs at the General Administration of Customs.

Apart from building scrap metal dismantling plants in countries of origin such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to meet domestic demand, the company has set goals of producing 6,000 metric tons of copper and brass as well as 6,000 tons of aluminum per month, to expand its production capacity and offset additional costs of overseas operations, Ying said.