In its 12th five-year plan, China will take industrialization of rare-earth functional materials as a national strategy, said Gan Yong, an academician at the institute, at a rare earth conference.
BAOTOU, Inner Mongolia (Dow Jones)–China plans to establish a fund valued at CNY300 million-CNY450 million ($44.3 million-$66.5 million) to support research and development in the rare-earth industry in the country’s 12th five-year plan period through 2015, an official with the Chinese Academy of Engineering said Sunday.
In its 12th five-year plan, China will take industrialization of rare-earth functional materials as a national strategy, said Gan Yong, an academician at the institute, at a rare earth conference.
Since last year, the Chinese government has been working on several regulations related to the rare-earth industry, including rules to raise barriers of entry into the industry, emission standards and a restructuring plan for the industry over the next five years, to consolidate the fragmented industry and gain more clout on pricing the rare metals.
Rare earth is mainly used in high-tech sectors like hybrid cars, missiles and mobile phones.
China supplies more than 90% of the global output of rare-earth oxides and possesses half of the world’s rare-earth reserves.
-Yajun Zhang contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (86 10) 8400-7712; [email protected]