China has hit its copper industry with new regulations that could eventually push the sector, which has been marked by rampant capacity expansion and inefficiencies, toward consolidation, the Wall Street Journal reported.   The government will prohibit new investment in copper smelters with annual capacity of less than 100,000 tonnes, or those that lack access to raw materials. New copper smelting capacity must be at least 25 percent supplied from a firm's own mines, said the National Development and Reform Commission on its website. The new rules also restrict smelter locations, as well as specify technology and equipment standards, energy-consumption limits, environment-protection standards and safety measures. The measures would mean small-scale smelters, which account for 20% to 30% of China's copper output, must significantly ramp up their capacity if they want to expand their operations and substantially increase their cash flow to fund such projects, or risk getting crowded out of the industry by larger rivals, said the paper. The requirements are part of a raft of fresh regulatory measures that aim to curb many of China's high-energy-consuming and resource-intensive industries such as the alumina, steel, ferroalloy, coke and coal sectors.