BEIJING, Feb 25 (Reuters) - China on Wednesday unveiled plans to offer support to the nonferrous metals and logistics industries, its latest effort to shore up the economy in the face of slowing global growth.

The government has already announced support measures for the auto, steel, textile, shipbuilding and information technology sectors, offering a mix of tax breaks and funding while also prodding firms to consolidate and restructure.

The State Council, or cabinet, said it would encourage consolidation in the nonferrous metals industry and give policy support for high value-added exports in the sector, possibly including increases in export tax rebates.

In a statement on the central government's website (www.gov.cn), the cabinet also said it would establish a mechanism for buying nonferrous metals for state reserves and that it will subsidise loans to non-ferrous metals firms to support technology upgrades.

The cabinet also said it would encourage mergers and acquisitions in the logistics sector, noting that it was an important source of jobs.

It did not give details on the plan to boost that industry.

More broadly, the cabinet added that the government planned to increase spending on research and development by 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) this year and next.

The assistance for various sectors rolled out over the past few weeks is aimed at helping what the government defines as its key industries weather a domestic economic downturn and a collapse in global demand. (Reporting by Eadie Chen and Zhou Xin; Editing by Keiron Henderson)