Rare earth monopoly harms nation

While China has curbed its rare earth exports, reports emerged that the US, India, Malaysia and Australia have all planned new projects to increase their output of the minerals. It seems that China's monopoly in the rare earth production may come to an end soon, which will be beneficial for the country as it promotes the healthy development of the industry.

Over the past several years, China, the world's largest rare earth producer, has been criticized for unfairly restricting exports of rare earth minerals, which are crucial for many high-tech industries like electronics and renewable energy. The country produces about 95 percent of the global rare earth output. But this kind of supply monopoly is quite lamentable because it comes at the expenses of the environment and has trampled on labor rights for workers.

It is good to see other countries trying to make up for China's export decrease. The country should take this opportunity to enhance the industry's core competitiveness. Firstly, instead of export quotas, the government should place differential taxes on exports to guide the development of the industry; secondly, authorities should strengthen environmental protection and labor laws, which will increase mining expenses and phase out those relying on low-cost exploration.

The author is Zhou Chengxiong, deputy director of Consultation and Research Center for Strategic Issues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.