Rare earths are key strategic resources, and China must certainly manage them well.
At the end of June, the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Rare Earths (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which will come into force on October 1, 2024. The "Regulations" make it clear that rare earth resources belong to the state, and no organization or individual may encroach on or destroy rare earth resources, and the state implements protective mining of rare earth resources.
Rare earths are known as "industrial vitamins", which can be used in electric vehicles, wind power generation sets and computer chips, etc., and are the key raw materials for high-tech industries and national defense science and technology industries, which are related to the lifeblood of the national economy and national security. Before 2010, the smuggling of rare earths in the mainland was very serious, and a large number of rare earth resources were sold at the price of "pork" or even "Chinese cabbage", resulting in a sharp decline in rare earth resource reserves. In recent years, after rectification, this situation has changed fundamentally, and the "Regulations", which will be implemented from October 1 this year, regulates the development, production and sales of rare earths, which is of great significance to promote the high-quality development of the rare earth industry.
Rare earths are key strategic resources, and China must certainly manage them well. However, this matter has become a "China threat" in the pen of some Western media. "Voice of America" said that China's issuance of rare earth management regulations is "seeking to firmly control strategic resources"; The headline of the American "Politico" news network was even more bizarre: "China declares precious rare earth metals belong to the state", adding that "Beijing's control of these coveted resources has long been seen as a threat to Western clean energy and technology supply chains".
Is there a problem with the declaration of strategic resources on the territory of China, "owned by the state"? Shouldn't China's strategic resources be firmly in its own hands? To put it bluntly, the position of these Western media is to undeservedly covet China's rare earth resources.
This kind of headline is not an isolated case, and it is also the case that Beijing says that China's rare earths are owned by the state.
29 countries and regions in the world have rare earth resources, but in terms of rare earth processing and refining technology, China's industrial chain has obvious advantages, and about 90% of the refined rare earths in the global market come from China, which is very popular in the West. The proportion of rare earths imported by the United States each year from China has remained stable at around 70% over the past decade.
In recent years, the West's thirst for such strategic resources has almost reached a fever pitch. According to data, the United States has invested at least nearly $200 million in rare earth projects since 2020, and America's allies are also going all out to open up a rare earth industry chain that "bypasses China". Last month, Australia asked China-linked investors to sell stakes in the country's rare earth miners, and more than a year ago, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to withdraw from the company.
The introduction of the "Regulations" comes at a time when the EU is preparing to impose temporary tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, so Western media generally call it "China's retaliation". This kind of speculation is quite boring, the so-called "management regulations", as the name suggests, are for China's domestic rare earth mining and production and other links, not for foreign export controls, if China uses this to "retaliate" against the EU's "punitive tariffs", it is neither reciprocal nor qualified.
Why can the United States, Australia, and Canada confidently support and protect the local rare earth industry, and even attack Chinese investors nakedly for this, while China cannot formulate a more scientific and strict regulation to protect its own rare earth industry? This can only be explained by the self-deprecating words of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, that is, "diplomacy is the art of managing double standards".
With the rise of strategic emerging industries such as new energy and intelligent manufacturing, the global demand for rare earths has increased rapidly. According to forecasts, the EU, which is driving the green transition, will see a sixfold increase in demand for rare earths by 2030. It wasn't until a year ago that the construction of the first large-scale rare earth refinery outside Asia began in Estonia. It is understandable that every move of China's rare earth policy has greatly affected the hearts of major Western rare earth consumers. Studies have shown that it will take a long time and a high price for the West to rebuild the rare earth industry chain without China. Therefore, it may be understandable that the West, in imagining the future of the international rare earth market, is anxious about the prospect of "decoupling and breaking the chain" that they themselves propose.
As for some US media, they also put forward that they are "worried" about China's control of rare earths and other critical minerals, "in preparation for a potential war", which is obviously a bottomless smear and slander against China. According to US media reports, rare earths are indispensable raw materials for the manufacture of F-35 fighters, "Predator" drones, nuclear submarines and other weapons.
That's right, we can't let these strategic materials that involve national security and affect world peace flow into illegal channels, which is one of the main purposes of our strengthening of rare earth management. In addition, the rectification of illegal mining and the crackdown on rare earth smuggling, the long-term coveting of rare earth minerals and technologies by foreign intelligence agencies on the mainland, and the acceleration of industrial high-end, intelligent, green transformation and upgrading, etc., also constitute the urgency and necessity of the promulgation of the "Regulations".
Rare earths, which "hold the throat of the development of strategic emerging industries", are to China what oil is to the Middle East, and China must have the right to speak in the market. The promulgation and implementation of the "Regulations" is conducive to deepening the supply-side reform, ensuring the safety and stability of the industrial chain and supply chain of strategic resources, and giving us more initiative in the lack of fair international high-tech competition.
Privy Council No. 10 / Yan Yanxia