China to step up protection of rare earth resources By LIU ZHIHUA and LIU YUKUN | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-01-16 09:11 Share A rare earth quarry in Sichuan province. [Photo/Sipa]
China will reinforce the protection of its rare earth resources, strengthen full industrial chain regulation and establish a mechanism under the State Council to decide and coordinate on major policy measures, according to a draft guideline published on Friday.
The guideline was published on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and will be kept open for public opinion till Feb 15. Rare earths are important strategic resources that are not renewable, and it is necessary to reinforce the full industrial chain regulations targeting activities that are currently disrupting the healthy development of the industry and damaging the environment, such as illegal, destructive, unplanned and excessive mining, and illicit tradin