back to article Beijing says state owns China's rare earth metals

Beijing has decreed that rare earth metals belong to the state under new regulations said to be aimed at protecting supplies in the name of national security, but which will be seen as another shot in the ongoing tech wars with the US. The Chinese government has approved new regulations governing the mining, smelting, and …

  1. codejunky Silver badge

    Meh

    I am not sure this is really a problem. Rare earths are not rare, we just dont want to process them in 'green' countries because its not very green nor pleasant to do.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Meh

      You missed the significance of this statement: “ According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the country produces 60 percent of the world's rare earths, but is responsible for processing nearly 90 percent, importing rare earths from other countries and processing them”

      Basically, we need to stop sending rare earths to China - whether that is in the form of ore’s or scrap, as once in China, they will belong to the (Chinese) state and subject to export restrictions. Those new fabs being built in the US, are going to need non-Chinese sources/supply chains for their raw materials; as will all those EV supply chains (raw earths aren’t just used in the battery)…

      1. codejunky Silver badge

        Re: Meh

        @Roland6

        "You missed the significance of this statement:"

        No I didnt, I answered it. In fact the second part of your comment pretty much follows what I said about passing the dirty job to China because we dont want to do it. No other reason.

      2. DS999 Silver badge

        Re: Meh

        I don't think "we" are, China has mining activities outside their borders (primarily in Africa and South America) which they bring home for processing, since it is more efficient to do at scale.

    2. bud-weis-er

      Re: Meh

      Also..... and sit down those of us who are easily triggered.... don't they belong to them to begin with?

      Or maybe China is supposed to sell what's under its ground to the highest bidder just like every other country regrets doing.

  2. alain williams Silver badge

    Vietnam beware

    Vietnam has 19% of known reserves vs China's 38%. You might notice that Vietnam is next to China which might decide to put pressure on Vietnam to maintain control of these rare earths.

    China mines much more than do other countries, so a few others could start digging it out if/when China starts throwing its weight around -- although it would take several years to ramp up production.

    Until then it is a case of too many eggs in one basket.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Vietnam beware

      It’s not just Vietnam, Cambodia has much of the same geology, so the expectation is that it too will have significant reserves, albeit currently poorly researched and mapped. Similar considerations apply to Thailand. Which would suggest China will be looking at the Indochinese Peninsula as its own backyard…

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Vietnam beware

        Lucky for us that our long term friends and allies, Vietnam and Cambodia, have such reliable supplies

  3. cjcox

    Remember, US levels of just about "anything" are strictly due to regulation

    We don't mine. We don't do "dirty". Just as with fossil fuels where briefly we became the number one producer, even without all the building btw, the USA bottleneck is usually self inflicted. So, maybe not as "scary" as the headlines make it out to be. But, some things would take "time" to get back up and running and expanded. So, I wouldn't say the USA is "tapped out", but rather, we "ban ourselves" to restrict "the dirty" stuff. Just my observation.

    1. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: Remember, US levels of just about "anything" are strictly due to regulation

      Back when China first started to make noises about restricting rare earths supplies, the US started making moves to re-open existing rare earths mines that had closed. As you say, they didn't close because they ran out, they closed because between China undercutting them on price and the cost of US level environmental regulations, it was no longer profitable.

      With China restricting supply and driving up the price, and the government considering rare earths to be strategic minerals (and thus getting government help/subsidies like the chip industry for the same reasons) it can once again be profitable to mine here.

  4. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Give them a chance

    China is a newly developed economy. They still naively believe that the govt should be involved in resources vital to their national interests.

    Once they become a more fully developed modern economy they will realise that these elements must be owned by hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds of other countries.

    1. beast666

      Re: Give them a chance

      This ^^^

  5. Zibob Silver badge

    Ah the resource wars

    Well on track for the 2077 date.

    Now who is making the vaults?

    1. Boothy
      Mushroom

      Re: Ah the resource wars

      Hopefully not Boeing, otherwise the doors are likely to fall off!

    2. devin3782

      Re: Ah the resource wars

      As long as it's not vault tek...

  6. martinusher Silver badge

    Biter bit?

    Practically everything in the US involving China has strings attached these days, everything from semiconductors to space exploration via STEM students, and its all in the name of 'national security'.

    1. Zibob Silver badge

      Re: Biter bit?

      The vicious irony is that all the "national security" restrictions will eventually result in a reduced quality of life for the people, who will themselves become a national security threat if this idiocy goes on long enough.

    2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Re: Biter bit?

      I think you will find that practically everything in Chine involving the USA (or others) also has strings attached these days.

      1. martinusher Silver badge

        Re: Biter bit?

        Its not China trying to take down Apple, is it? Its the US trying to destroy Huawei, all in the name of 'national security'.

        Obviously if you pull a stunt like we did then there will be repercussions. I'm surprised that Apple still has any sales in the PRC The fact is that we (the US) are the country that's devising sanctions, implementing them and enforcing them on anyone who we've got leverage over. This will generate a reaction but this isn't tit-for-tat, "both sides are at it" -- we're the ones taking the initiative. I'm just surprised that we thought that we could go stomping around like this and nobody would even complain, much less react.

  7. spoofles

    Cheap pollution

    Rare earths are not so rare and if you have one of them you can extract the others.

    The catch is that a lot of industrial waste is created when processing them.

    Environmental conservation, the CCP has heard of it but never seen it so it far cheaper to process them in the PRC.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. mostly average
    Big Brother

    That's redundant

    If there is a thing that exists (or may exist) the CCP claims ownership of it. Any law claiming CCP ownership of a specific thing only creates the false hope that there exists some other thing that isn't owned by the CCP.

  9. Umbracorn
    Big Brother

    Owned at the hardware level

    Do they still own the rare earths when they’re in my diodes? Are the rare earths only on loan to me and what if I don’t keep up the loan payments? :/

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Owned at the hardware level

      You lease the protons and neutrons, the electrons are thrown in free because we can never seem to accurately keep track of them

      1. Zibob Silver badge

        Re: Owned at the hardware level

        I hear they are in the cloud. Maybe we can tie AI into this some how.

      2. Michael Strorm Silver badge

        Sorry

        "So you're definitely sure that you receive the electrons for free and that they don't need to charge you for that?"

        "Yes, I'm positive."

    2. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

      Re: Owned at the hardware level

      What else does this apply to? Can I claim Chlorine?

      Hey, your ships are floating in my diluted Chlorine salts. I hope you have a permit.

  10. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Not surpising

    Not surprising. Could be a big problem though! Places that have reserves in the ground, it takes a few years to get a mine going. And smelting is a very dirty process, i don't see anywhere in Europe or North America being willing to smelt for rare earth metals.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Not surpising

      The EU are trying to build a European supply chain.

      I know Tim Worsral tried to put a deal together to process Czech mine tailings for their high rare Earth content. But it was cheaper to just buy Chinese.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Not surpising

        "But it was cheaper to just buy Chinese."

        And there's the problem :-(

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

          Re: Not surpising

          Government is both the problem and the solution here. Our environmental regulations are the reason that it's cheaper to process rare earths in China. But those regs are there for a good reason. However the Chinese are playing silly-buggers - and have been since the first time they banned rare earth exports 10-15 years ago. Since we can't trust the Chinese government we're going to have to have a supply chain. China ended the last export ban pretty quickly when Western companies geared up quickly and rare earth prices collapsed - so we need either stockpiles that can tide the economy over long enough to start up the industry again (probably the cheapest solution*) - or we'll have to have a subsidised industry.

          *Worstall once said here that global demand for Scandium was something like 50 tonnes a year. So stockpiles needn't be particularly large. I'm aware that's one of the lower numbers.

  11. Bebu

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