On September 6, the signing ceremony for a strategic cooperation agreement between Guangdong Rare Earth Industry Group and Yunnan Rare Earth Industry Group was held in Harbin during 2012 China Advanced Material Industry Expo.

At the signing ceremony, Chen Yanhai, head of the Department of Raw Materials of the MIIT,placed ardent expectations for the two rare earth industry groups. Chen pointed out that both sides were expected to strictly carry out national policy towards the rare earth industry,fully exert their respective advantages, expand cooperation fields, transform the development pattern of the rare earth industry at an expedited pace, and facilitate the restructuring of the rare earth industry to build a new pattern of mutual benefit and cooperation for development.

It is said that the strategic cooperation agreement signed by and between Guangdong Rare Earth Industry Group and Yunnan Rare Earth Industry Group is a significant product of Guangdong and Yunnan Provinces’ efforts to carry out the Opinions of State Council on Promoting the Healthy Sustainable Development of the Rare Earth Industry and the strategy of large rare earth groups. It is also a concrete measure to implement Yunnan-Guangdong Framework Agreement for Strategic Cooperation signed by the two provinces in July this year, and promote industry cooperation, signifying that exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong and Yunnan provinces has got into a brand-new phase in the rare earth industry.

Those who attended the signing ceremony are as follows: Gan Yong, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the China Rare Earth Industry Association;Chen Yanhai, head of the Department of Raw Materials of the MIIT; Jia Yinsong, director of China National Rare Earth Office; Lin Weichao, deputy director of Economic & Information Commission of Guangdong Province; Xie Xiaoyang, chief engineer of Yunnan Provincial Industry & Information Technology Commission; Zhong Jinsong, general manager of Guangdong Rare Earth Industry Group, and Wu Liying, board chairman of Yunnan Rare Earth Industry Group.

In May last year, the State Council issued the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Sustainable Development of the Rare Earth Industry. In the file, it put forward the strategy of large rare earth enterprise group to rationally develop and utilize valuable rare earth resources. Both Guangdong and Yunnan boast rich ionic rare earth resources. Incorporated with the approval,Guangdong Rare Earth Industry Group and Yunnan Rare Earth Industry Group play a dominant role in rare earth resource integration, development and utilization in their respective province.