Beijing, February 12 China has intensified its efforts to consolidate its monopoly over rare earth metals to counter the United States' move to form an international alliance with over 50 nations, including India, to secure the supply chains of these precious metals and reduce reliance on Beijing.
Earlier this week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Ganzhou in Jiangxi province, one of the world's largest production bases for heavy rare earth elements, a strategic resource essential to a range of high-tech industries, where he called for China to consolidate its lead in industries like rare earths, over which it has a strategic advantage over Washington.
Li also visited the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Ganjiang Innovation Academy, toured critical mineral producers, and had meetings with local business leaders and researchers, according to official media reports.
"The value of rare earths in boosting advanced manufacturing and green, low-carbon transformation is increasingly prominent," he said.
China's dominance in the global mining and processing of these minerals has become a crucial strategic advantage in recent years, giving it vital leverage when dealing with the US over a series of trade and technology disputes.
Li also met producers of the critical minerals, local business leaders and researchers during his tour, Xinhua reported.
"The value of rare earths in boosting advanced manufacturing and green, low-carbon transformation is increasingly prominent," he said.
Li's visit comes against the backdrop of intensified efforts by the US to form an international alliance after China increased its control over the export of rare earth metals to the US, the EU, India, and various other countries, creating chaos in the supply chains of these precious metals.
China accounts for about 70 per cent of global rare earth mining and nearly 90 per cent of their processing.
These minerals are critical for manufacturing electronics, automobiles, wind energy, and defense equipment, as well as a host of modern gadgets.
Beijing halted the export of these key elements to use them as leverage to expand its trade interests.
China used its control over rare earth exports to pressure US President Donald Trump to reduce high tariffs and agree to a quid pro quo deal under which Beijing had agreed to resume the supply of rare earths to Washington, lifting the ban on the export of semiconductor chips.
China also restricted the export of rare earth metals to India, resulting in shortages in the automobile and other industries.
Following this, the Trump administration launched a major initiative early this month to build a "metallic alliance" with over 50 nations, including India, to secure critical mineral supply chains and reduce reliance on China.
The US government has initiated a USD 12 billion stockpile strategy called "Project Vault" to finance domestic and allied mining and processing.
In Ganzhou, Li emphasized the importance of solidifying China's competitiveness in traditional industries to spur technological innovation, calling for expanding the application of rare earths in fields like green energy and new materials, according to the South China Morning Post based in Hong Kong.
He also chaired a meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, on harnessing artificial intelligence to empower other industries.
Li urged policymakers to deepen their understanding of AI development trends and advance innovations in algorithms and large language models, increase China's supply of high-quality data and computing power, and proactively explore new technological pathways. He said the goal was to achieve breakthroughs across the entire AI chain.
"We must create an ecosystem that fosters synergy from data, computing, electricity, network resources, and software and hardware," he said.