China’s dominance in rare earth mining, refining and exports has long been viewed as a strategic advantage.
But a new study by Chinese researchers argues that the country’s rare earth industry has its own critical weakness.
“China is not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields,” the researchers wrote in the paper.
Published in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the study shifts the focus away from resource reserves and production capacity, instead mapping high-end rare earth functional material technologies.
The researchers, from the University of Science and Technology of China, concluded that key patents underpinning advanced rare earth functional materials remained largely controlled by Japan and the United States.
A wheel loader moves ore at a rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California – one of the few significant rare earth production sites outside China. Photo: Reuters
These downstream compounds and components made from processed rare earths – including permanent magnets, catalysts and luminescent and polishing materials – accounted for more than 80 per cent of rare earth-related patents worldwide and represented the industry’s most commercially important applications.
