China's rare earth strategic reserves lead Western worries about US weapons or be affected

The Global Times, published on February 10th, reported that the US “Wall Street Journal” reported on the 7th that China is quietly building its own strategic reserves of rare earths, which will certainly affect global rare earth prices and supply. This news was quickly reprinted by Western media and caused some people to worry about China's "monopoly" of rare earths. A U.S. member said that it will submit a bill to Congress that requires the United States to "hold a certain amount of rare earth." He Weiwen, director of the China-U.S. Economics Association, said in an interview with a Global Times reporter that it is normal for a country to carry out strategic reserves of rare earths, just like oil reserves, and it is a country’s own needs. “Some Western media accuse China of monopolizing rare earths as unfounded. China is a responsible big country. China does not have the ability, nor does it intend to manipulate rare earth prices.”

The Wall Street Journal broke the news that although the details of China's plan to build a strategic stockpile of rare earth minerals have not yet been disclosed, its outline has appeared in recent reports by Chinese government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and official media. "These reports said that China's recent rare-earth reserve facility built in Inner Mongolia can accommodate more than 39,800 tons of rare earths in total exports last year." The Wall Street Journal concluded that China is accumulating strategic reserves of rare earth metals, which will allow China's "dominated rare earth industry to have greater power to influence global prices and supply."

The U.S. think tank, the U.S. Security Plan, also issued a report on the 7th, suggesting that the U.S. reserve rare earths before its rare earth mining and processing capacity expands, because it is "one of the best ways to prevent shortages of rare earths in the future." The think tank said that although the U.S. military’s demand for rare earths only accounts for 5% of the U.S. demand, it is “fully dependent” on China when producing some of the most powerful weapons.

Radio France Internationale stated that China’s plan to reserve rare earths began a year ago. China has built 6 rare earth reserves with a minimum reserve of 6,000 tons. There are at least 10 such facilities, and rare earth reserves may be more than 100,000 tons.

German "Focus" Weekly said on the 9th, China's rare earth management toward the "second stage" - China will establish a coveted strategic reserve of commodities. More than 95% of the world's rare earth exports come from China. “Western industrialized countries have repeatedly accused the Chinese of reducing the supply of rare earths. This time China’s move will once again trigger disputes with these countries.