At present, the number of rare earths exported by China ranks first in the world. Rare earth is the key material of many major weapon systems. Rare earth is China's most abundant strategic resource, and it is an indispensable raw material for many high-tech industries.
Containing the phenomenon of stealing and stealing rare earth
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Land and Resources recently said that the special rectification action is to curb the phenomenon of rare earth piracy and theft, and the total amount of rare earth mining in China has not been reduced.
Rare earth has the reputation of “gold in the 21st centuryâ€, but in China it has been the price of rare earth to sell potatoes. Jin Yuzhong, director of the mining department of the Mineral Development Management Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said that it was precisely because of poor supervision that the phenomenon of theft and theft was serious, which ultimately led to the cost of destroying the environment for the exploitation of rare earth resources in China.
Jin Yuzhong: "We know that the impact of rare earth resource exploitation on environmental damage is very large. Some countries have adopted some relatively compulsory management measures, resulting in high mining costs, which has made it impossible to mine. And our country has a stage management. In terms of poor supervision, the illegal exploitation of unlicensed mining at the expense of the environment has caused some low-cost and cheap resources to flood the market."
Liu Lianhe, director of the Mineral Development Management Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said that with the recovery of mineral prices after the financial crisis, the phenomenon of rare earth pirates and pirates has also rebounded.
Liu Lianhe: "After the financial crisis, the global economy began to pick up. They found that the price of rare earths in the market is picking up. At this stage, the phenomenon of piracy and theft of rare earths has begun to pick up. In order to curb this momentum, we will take urgent and special actions. It was deployed in May, and a special operation was started in June to conduct a network-based investigation."
Did not reduce the amount of mining
However, this special action has caused some countries to question that this is a signal that China is reducing the total amount of rare earths extracted and then controlling the export of rare earths. Jin Yuzhong stressed that rare earth integration does not reduce the amount of mining, but to better protect the environment and promote the rational use of mineral resources:
Jin Yuzhong: "In the past two years, our total mining index has not declined at all, and some regions have added some fine-tuning according to some special needs. We have only cracked down on unlicensed mining, but illegal exploitation, and it is against irregular behavior. The phenomenon of unlicensed mining that occurred in our country some time ago has long been banned in some western countries. I think we have to do this step, and I feel that it is already a little late. We are doing this to ensure the rational use of resources. It is also to have a beautiful ecological environment in the process of resource development."
This nationwide centralized rectification operation will be carried out in two batches to supervise 469 key mining areas. The next step will be to strengthen supervision and establish a system of co-management.
Liu Lianhe revealed that according to the work progress, the Ministry of Land and Resources will carry out a national special exploration and development plan for rare earth resources, and order exploration rights and mining rights in an orderly manner according to the plan.
Liu Lianhe: "The next step is to cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. From the downstream processing capacity and the development and integration of enterprises, the future development layout requires us to plan well in advance, and we must carry out special investigation and development planning for rare earths, according to the plan. Orderly and planned, according to the market supply and demand needs, orderly release certain exploration rights and mining rights."
China's rare earth export policy may not be reversed in 2011, but the mining, smelting, trade and reserve management problems of China's resource products still need to be solved.
Is it a tool for China to limit the export of rare earths? The recent frequent statements by Chinese and foreign high-level officials and the launch of China's rare earth export quota application in 2011 have made this topic hot.
On November 13, during the APEC leaders’ Yokohama Summit, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Daejeon Zhang Hong held talks with Zhang Ping, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, and rare earth was one of the topics. According to the Kyodo News Agency, Zhang Ping said that this issue will be properly resolved in the near future.
Earlier, Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said in Paris, France that China will maintain rare earth exports in 2011.
The current information shows that China's rare earth export policy has changed in the past three years, and in 2011 there was no policy reversal. However, behind the rare earth disputes, the problems of mining, smelting, trade and reserve management of China's resource products remain to be solved.
Originating industry adjustment
Rare earth is known as "the gold of industry." The most direct cause of this rare earth dispute is the reduction of China's rare earth export quota.
On July 8, the Ministry of Commerce issued the second batch of rare earth general trade export quotas in 2010. The total quota of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises totaled 7,976 tons, less than half of the quotas in the same period of the previous year.
The quota has been greatly reduced, causing dissatisfaction with rare earth importing countries such as Japan and the United States. In response, the Chinese government executives said on many occasions that China’s move was due to environmental protection needs.
During the third Sino-Japanese high-level dialogue at the end of August, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said that China’s restrictions on rare earth exports are based on comprehensive factors such as promoting economic development and protecting the environment and national security. ".
He also pointed out that China is not only restricting the export of rare earths, but restricting the entire chain of mining, production and trade. This is in line with WTO rules. “Overall, China will gradually reduce the export and production restrictions of rare earths. However, due to the large increase in exports in the first half of this year, the restrictions in the first half of the year will be more obvious.â€
In fact, China has adjusted the rare earth industry for several years. In order to solve the problems of relatively scattered Chinese rare earth enterprises, extensive mining methods, and weak environmental awareness, since 2007, China has begun to implement mandatory planning for rare earth production and began to reduce rare earth exports. The National Mineral Resources Planning clearly stipulates that the exploration and exploitation of specific minerals that are subject to protective exploitation in tungsten, tin, antimony, rare earth and other countries shall be subject to planning and regulation, restricting mining, strict access and comprehensive utilization, and strict protection. The annual mining total indicator of specific mining of sexual exploitation is controlled, and super-planned mining and unplanned exports are strictly prohibited. By 2015, the total annual mining of rare earths should be controlled at around 140,000 tons.
The corresponding adjustments were continued in 2010. According to the figures provided by the Ministry of Commerce, in the rare earth mining sector, the mining scale released in 2010 was 25% lower than that in 2009; in the production and smelting, the amount of planning issued by the competent authorities was 23% lower than that in 2009; the export link, the physical quantity in 2010 The quota was 30,300 tons, a decrease of nearly 40% from the previous year.
“What we are asking for is the supply of rare earth with stability.†The Japanese Embassy’s Minister of Economics, Mr. Hatano, said in an interview with the reporter in early November that he believed that the Chinese government’s purpose for environmental protection is real, because this policy has already It has been implemented for some time, but China’s sudden drastic reduction in rare earth exports is something that Japan does not want to see.
The figures he provides show that Japan imports about 30,000 tons of rare earth each year, more than 90% of which comes from China, not only Japan, but also countries around the world rely on China's rare earths.
However, China Customs statistics do not support this statement. According to customs statistics, from January to September 2010, China’s exports of rare earths amounted to 32,200 tons, which exceeded the quota for the whole year. Among them, exports to Japan were 16,000 tons, accounting for 49.8%, compared with the same period in 2009. Not only did it not decrease, but it increased by 167%. The export to the United States was 62 million tons, accounting for 19%, an increase of 5.5%.
The rise in the battle for rare earths is at a time when Sino-Japanese relations tend to be tense.
A person familiar with the work of rare earths in the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association told this reporter that the issue of rare earth has largely become a political issue rather than a simple economic issue. But in any case, China's adjustment and rectification of the rare earth industry still needs to be carried out.
In May 2010, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicly solicited opinions on the “Rare Earth Industry Access Conditions†on its website, which required the production scale, process equipment and three wastes.
According to the above-mentioned non-ferrous metal industry association, the current access conditions for rare earth industry and the development plan for rare earth industry are being revised and formulated. At the same time, the rare earth associations that have been preparing for more than two years are also expected to accelerate the pace of establishment, specifically coordinate the adjustment and rectification of the rare earth industry. jobs.
The policy is relatively stable next year
In the case of a sharp decline in export quotas in 2010, China’s rare earth export policy in 2011 has received much attention. Relevant information shows that there will be no major reversal of China's rare earth export policy next year.
On November 10, the website of the Ministry of Commerce announced the conditions and application procedures for the declaration of rare earth export quotas in 2011. Yao Jian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said that the relevant regulations for the declaration were basically unchanged from those in 2010.
Regarding the number of rare earth export quotas in 2011, Yao Jian said that the specific figures are not a decision of the Ministry of Commerce and are still in the process, but he also said that as the leaders of the Ministry of Commerce said earlier, China will guarantee the demand of the international market.
In addition to export quotas, at the export stage, the Chinese government has imposed export tariffs ranging from 15% to 25% on rare earths, and listed rare earth ore and 41 rare earth products in the prohibited category of processing trade. At the same time, the qualification management of rare earth export enterprises has been strengthened. Currently, 32 companies have obtained rare earth export qualifications, including 10 foreign-invested enterprises. These policies will continue in the next year.
Zhou Chengxiong, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Questions and Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently pointed out that the administrative means should not be interfered too much, the market mechanism should be improved, and the use of tax leverage should be used to regulate the market. He proposed to abolish the export quota system and regulate the export volume of rare earths by substantially increasing the export tariffs on rare earths.
In response to this suggestion, Yao Jian told this reporter that the focus of each policy is different, each has its own functions, and it cannot be said simply which one to choose.
He explained that quotas are the most effective method of total amount control. The WTO also has regulations on export tariffs. China’s current export quotas, export tariffs, and export enterprise qualification management measures are in line with China’s WTO commitments, “especially In the current situation where the rare earth needs further management, several policies are still necessary."
The aforementioned non-ferrous metal industry associations also told this reporter that reducing quotas and raising export tariffs are only different forms. The specific method used depends on the development of the future situation. "At present, the country still believes that export quotas are better. ."
Resource export management problem
In addition to rare earths, China has encountered similar trade conflicts before.
In June 2009, the United States and the European Union resorted to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism for China's export restrictions on bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide, yellow phosphorus and zinc. The Chinese government's response is also due to environmental considerations.
In fact, how to manage the export of resource products is a difficult problem in global trade. The theme of the WTO Trade Report 2010 is natural resource trade. The report believes that the particularity of resource products determines the difference in trade with other goods. Exporting countries of resource products often adopt measures such as export tariffs and quantity restrictions. Importing countries have fewer restrictions, while other goods trades are just the opposite.
Statistics show that 11% of the world's resource products trade is subject to export tax, while in other goods trade, this proportion is only 5%. Among the existing export restrictions, resource product export restrictions account for 35%.
According to the report, although the multilateral trade rules provide a framework for free trade, they are not designed specifically for the resource sector. They do not fully reflect the particularities of the resource sector. They also need to consider issues such as excessive resource use and environmental externalities.
According to the relevant provisions of the WTO, in order to achieve reasonable policy objectives such as protecting resources and the environment, member states can take some necessary restrictive measures, including export restrictions.
In addition, the WTO rules are not binding on export restrictions. Cheng Dawei, an associate professor at the School of Economics of Renmin University of China, once told reporters that the WTO is mainly restricted by import restrictions, giving members free space in terms of export restrictions, and does not stipulate obligations that must be fulfilled. This means that even if there are special annexes in the accession protocols of the countries that promise the scope of export restrictions, the legal effects of these annexes are not strong.
In practice, many countries have different degrees of restrictions on exports, and are not limited to the resources sector. The United States' export restrictions on China's high-tech sector are typical.
However, the WTO annual report also pointed out that the trade policy for resource products may be a sub-optimal choice, and the best choice is often domestic policy. “Domestic policies such as consumption tax, production control, trade impact and trade restrictions are not much different. ."
The aforementioned non-ferrous metal industry associations told this reporter that in order to maintain the development of the national economy, the resources of the mining country should be taxed, and the environmental pollution caused by mining should also be compensated according to the principle of “who pollutes who is governedâ€. It is an internationally accepted rule, and China is currently not perfect in its domestic policy. "This should be the direction of efforts."
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