Data system to be loaded on the platform managed by the Government
China has introduced a new provisional regulation on extraction, merger and separation of rare lands that requires companies to establish a data traceability system on volumes to be loaded every month on a platform managed by the government. The initiative, commissioned by the Ministry of Industry, the National Commission for Development and Reformation (Ndrc) and the Ministry of Natural Resources, aims to strengthen the control of the total volume for the extraction and processing of rare lands, covering both national extraction, including derivative mineral products, and their merger, import or processing of other minerals, such as concentrates of monotors.
Rare lands are fundamental strategic resources to produce high-tech goods, which have become a powerful weapon available to Beijing as part of the sudden commercial war launched by the USA of Donald Trump: the management of the relative extraction and merger-setting processes (i.e. the refining process of mineral products of rare lands in various oxides, salts or other compounds, individual or mixed) is linked to the safety of national resources, have national resources, have State media reported. According to the document, the authorities will establish annual control objectives for the extraction and merger of rare lands on the basis of factors such as national economic development objectives, reserves and changes in resources, sector development, environmental protection and market demand.
Companies engaged in the sector are required “to strictly comply with the laws and regulations and operate within the limits of the assigned shares”, while the two ministries will derive the “qualified companies”. Any other organization or individual is forbidden to carry out extraction or merger of rare lands.
To prevent illegal escapes of materials, China has started a special operation in May against smuggling, underlining that it considers, as “large responsible country, the civil needs of strategic minerals of other nations and to approve the export licenses that meet the legal requirements”.
