US-China Relations Updates

On November 3rd, Premier Li Qiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to discuss relevant work on promoting the high-quality development of the rare earth industry.

The meeting pointed out that rare earths are strategic mineral resources. It is necessary to coordinate the exploration, development, utilization, and standardized management of rare earth resources, as well as integrate various forces in production, academia, research, and application. It actively promotes the research, development, and application of new-generation green and efficient mining and metallurgical technologies, strengthens the development and industrialization of high-end rare earth materials, and cracks down on illegal mining and ecological destruction. Efforts should be made to promote the high-end, intelligent, and green development of the rare earth industry.

Clearly, these points indicate at least three aspects:

1. State-owned overall planning and management, through legislation to establish an effective national security strategy for rare earths with the purpose of national security.
2. Continuation of industrial upgrading, building higher patent barriers, making it impossible for competitors to bypass patents. Continuing to reduce costs, even if competitors can achieve mass production by bypassing patents, they will fail in market competition due to costs.
3. Coordinated planning of the production, academia, and research system, forming a talent reservoir to prevent talent loss, ensuring continuous iteration and upgrading of the industrial chain, with the ultimate goal of weaponization.