It is reported that China has more than 50% of global reserves of rare earth resources, but China has no pricing right and discourse power in international markets and Chinese rare earth has been sold as cheap as cabbages in the past two decades.

Energy experts warn that with the current mining rate, strategic resources will be exhausted soon. Its total reserves and production scale of rare earth ranks first in the world. The output of wolfram, indium and rare earth in China accounted for more than 80% of the global output.

China's rare earth production has reached 96% of all global production and exports reached over 60% in 2005. However, the pricing right is not reserved for Chinese enterprises. Compared with 1998, China rare earth exports have increased ten times, but the price has decreased by about 36%.

Energy experts warn that with the current mining rate, mining area in Baiyunebo, China Inner Mongolia will turn to non rear earth in the coming 30 years. Rare earth resources in Jiangxi will be exhausted in the next 20 years and China's world largest tungsten resources will also be exhausted in 14 years.

In recent years, China has realized the strategic importance of rare-earth. In 2005, crude rare earth ore was listed in the non-exportation catalogue. Foreign countries could only buy purified rare earth materials. And in the same year, export tax of rare earth substantially increased.

In April, Ministry of Land and Resources of China released a new standard of rare earth mining and cut down the output of rare earth; meanwhile, mining permits are still frozen.

(Sourced from People's Daily Online)