China strives to standardize rare earth market

China has made great strides since a campaign that targets illegal rare earth exploitation, rare earth smuggling and excessive exploitation was launched by three central government departments on Nov. 10

Last month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Environmental Protection and General Administration of Customs of China jointly launched an investigation into the chaos that reigns in rare earth exploitation, production, export and environmental protection.

The reporter learned that China’s rare earth industry has many serious problems. First, illegal rare earth exploitation is severe and rare earth smelting is expanding in a disorderly manner. Second, the ecological environment is being badly damaged by the industry.

Third, the waste left over by rare earth exploitation and smelting is very harmful and difficult to deal with. Fourth, the comprehensive utilization of rare earth resources is still insufficient.

Jia Yinsong, a director in charge of rare earth at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the crackdown on illegal producers has helped improve environmental protection and impose order on the rare earth sector.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has publicly identified 15 enterprises as the first batch of rare earth producers that meet the new environmental protection requirements it introduced earlier this year. At the same time, the quality of economic performance in the rare earth sector has improved significantly.

During the first nine months of this year, the country’s output of rare earth products dropped by seven percent from a year earlier, while the prices of oxides, salt and metals refined from rare earths rose sharply.

“The unsustainable low prices of rare earth that come at the expense of the environment, resources, and even workers’ safety are forever gone,” Jia said.

China will introduce a special value-added tax invoice for the rare earth industry as well as a series of policies, such as rare earth industry entry requirements, as soon as possible besides the overall planning for the industry. And it will also strengthen efforts to crack down on illegal mining and boost the orderly operation of the rare earth market. Furthermore, the country will monitor the whole process of rare earth mining, smelting, refining and export.

People’s Daily