Between June 13th and 14th, National Rare Earth Work Conference was held in Beijing. As further implementation of “Several Opinions on Promoting Continual and Healthy Development of Rare Earth Industry” (hereinafter referred to as “Several Opinions”) released by the State Council, the conference proposed to promote merger and restructuring of the rare earth industry, while MIIT is studying a specific plan about acceleration of organization of conglomerate.

It is reported that this high-level conference was approved by the State Council. Members of the rare metals inter-ministerial coordination mechanism (including MIIT, NDRC, MOS,MLR, MEP and MOC, etc.) and leaders of relevant departments under the State Council attended the conference and made speeches.Approximately 160 representatives from governments of province, prefecture and county of main rare earth producing areas, competent departments, relevant key enterprises, industrial associations and research institutes attended the conference.

In addition to learning and implementing the“Several Opinions”, the conference also focused on “exchanging latest experiences and good practices of relevant departments and local governments on strengthening rare earth resource integration, promoting structural adjustment, encouraging merger and restructuring and facilitating development of application industry, etc.”; carry out mobilization and deployment to further enhance rectification of mining, smelting, separation, environmental protection and import & export order,strengthen key points in management of the rare earth industry; further fulfill responsibilities of local governments, relevant departments and enterprises.

According to the conference, at present, the industry is plagued by repeated illegal mining of rare earth resources, disordered expansion of smelting and separation capacities, heavy damage to ecological environment, low utilization of resources, chaotic export order, slow development of new materials and terminal application technologies. In order to solve the abovementioned problems as soon as possible, all members of the coordination mechanism have defined special rectification programs covering rare earth mining, smelting, separation and environmental protection, etc. based on the requirements of the “Several Opinions”, so as to ensure healthy and rapid development of rare earth industry.

As for the above-mentioned problems, MIIT reiterated the importance of increase of rare earth resource tax collection standard. According to a relevant responsible person, rare earth resource tax has been RMB 0.4 yuan/ton – 2 yuan/ton for a long time, which is unfavorable for protection of resources and environment.Since April 1st, 2011, China has adjusted light rare earth resource tax to RMB 60 yuan/ton and medium and heavy rare earth resource tax to RMB 30 yuan/ton. It is considered to be conducive to reasonable development of rare earth resources and environmental protection, effective control of blind development of mining,smelting and separation, and promoting continuous and healthy development of the rare earth industry.

As for the consolidation issues that the industry is concerned with, Miao Wei, the Minister of MIIT, pointed out in the conference that, it is an effective approach to actively promote merger and acquisition of the rare earth industry, form a industrial pattern led by large-scale enterprises and improve management of the rare earth industry. He revealed that MIIT is studying and making a specific plan to accelerate organization of a large-scale group based on the principles of overall planning, policy guide and market-oriented operation.

As before, great importance has been attached to the rare earth application industry. The conference pointed out that China’s vigorous development of rare earth application industry is the requirement of giving full play to rare earth strategic resources and supporting new industry with strategic significance. China will actively develop rare earth mines, manufacturers, application enterprises and research institutes,strengthen cooperation between enterprises,academies and research institutes, accelerate technical innovation, speed up R&D application of high-end rare earth new materials and new products, and meanwhile, guide rare earth enterprises to adopt new technologies and processes, enhance resource utilization, reduce pollutant emission and facilitate industrial transition and upgrade.

As for the setup of a rare earth association, the relevant responsible person of MIIT indicated that the preparatory work is under progress.