China has declared that the nation's rare earths belong to the state as the arms race with the West heats up to control the metallic minerals needed for the green energy transition.
"No organisation or individual may encroach upon or destroy rare-earth resources," says the new regulation, which will take effect in October. The aim is to "ensure national resource security and industrial security", according to the text released by the country's State Council on Saturday.
But it is also China's "latest move to ring fence its trove of industrially important metals", said Nikkei Asia, including "magnet making materials" vital for a range of technologies from electric vehicles to lasers and missiles.
Global demand for rare earths is expected to skyrocket amid the worldwide transition to green energy. But the regulation is also a "response to US efforts to restrict Chinese access to advanced chip technology", part of the intensifying trade war between Beijing and the West.
China produces about 60% of the world's rare-earth elements and accounts for nearly 90% of rare-earth refining. Meanwhile, demand in the EU is "forecast to soar sixfold in the decade to 2030 and sevenfold by 2050".
But overreliance on Chinese suppliers is risky, according to a 2022 analysis by the European Parliament. With geopolitical tensions rising, the US and European Union have "sought to diversify their procurement of rare earths, as well as other minerals", said Semafor.
Last month a Norwegian mining firm announced that it had discovered Europe's largest proven deposit of rare-earth elements – one of the world's few deposits not owned or controlled by China.
Norway's discovery could "finally make Europe a player in the industry", said Fortune, and "strengthens Europe's hand against rivals like China". | 
