(Photo: China Economics Weekly)
(ECNS) ? Despite being a major supplier of graphite resources, China still lacks high technology and advanced management, and it may use up the rare resource in 20 years, according to China Economics Weekly.
Illegal exploitation, extensive operation and poor management all contributed to the plight of China's graphite situation -- it exports raw graphite materials but has to import graphite products, an analysis report offered by Heilongjiang provice shows.
"If no reform is done in China's graphite industry, the country wouldn't see any graphite resources 20 year later," said Zhang Bin, rotating chairman of the China Graphite Industry Association and president of Inner Mongolia Rising Group.
China's discovered graphite reserves are 55 million tons, 77 percent of the world's reserves of 71 million tons.
About 585,500 tons of raw graphite were exported and 76,000 tons of purified ones were imported in 2010, according to China's customs. While China sells at the export price of 3,000 to 4,000 per ton, it buys at the import price of 100,000 to 200,000 per ton in recent years.
Graphite, thanks to its unique structure and quality, is an essential material in military, modern, and high and new technology industries.
Zhou Yu, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said advanced process technologies for graphite have been monopolized by few developed countries, which is a main cause of China's current difficulties in the graphite industry.
The Rising New Energy Co., a subsidiary of the Rising Group, has made some breakthroughs in producing hi-tech graphite products. But Zhang Bin said that wasn't enough, and better technology in companies like his needs government's support and guidance.
And some insiders said the graphite industry should follow China's rare earth resources' management and control mode for a healthy and sustainable development.
Chinese authorities have introduced a series of policies to regulate the rare earth industry, such as setting export quotas, adjusting tariff policies, controlling rare earth exploitation.
