| ¡¡ hina will “strike hard” against the illegal mining, exporting and smuggling of rare earth elements to impose discipline on an increasingly “strategic” sector, the industry minister said today.
In a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, (www.miit.gov.cn), Miao Wei said China’s rare earth resources had been put under increasingly heavy pressure as a result of surging domestic and global demand.
China produces 97 per cent of global rare earths — 17 elements used in key industries like defence and renewable energy — and recent moves to cut export quotas and restrict production have caused alarm on the global market.
Miao, speaking at an industry meeting today, defended the restrictions, saying that rare earths were a strategic resource.
“Since the turn of the new century, along with intensifying global competition in new technologies, the strategic position of rare earths has become increasingly important, and they are receiving more and more attention from every country,” he said.
China has insisted that the high level of output was unsustainable and that its environment was suffering as a result of overproduction. It has also justified the crackdown as a way of guaranteeing supplies to its own industries.
It cut export quotas by 35 per cent for the first half of this year, and has capped total output of rare earth oxides at 93,800 tonnes for 2011 while cracking down on illegal production.
China has also sought to increase its pricing power over rare earth metals, and last week announced that it would create a state-owned monopoly in Inner Mongolia, where the bulk of production is concentrated. |
