 Rare earth elements in China: Policies and narratives of reinventing an industryJost Wübbeke Resources Policy, 2013, vol. 38, issue 3, 384-394 Abstract: After top producer China decided in 2010 to tighten its export quotas for rare earth elements (REE), major customers feared being cut off from the valuable metals. The trade dispute intensified when the EU, the USA, and Japan brought the case before the WTO. The export controls raise questions about China’s intentions and strategies. This article argues that China’s export policy should not be viewed in isolation. The export controls are embedded in a greater transformation of the strategic REE industry. Beijing promotes a broad set of policies, including industry reorganization, resource conservation, and environmental protection. Next, the article examines three narratives that may be constitutive of the Chinese policy. Findings indicate that the geopolitical narrative, which sees natural resources as instruments of power politics, can be only partly attributed to China’s REE policies. The major driving motives are domestic concerns for resource conservation and environmental protection, as well as the development of competitive downstream industries. Keywords: Rare earths; Chinese resource policy; Export of raw materials; Mining and environmental pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:38:y:2013:i:3:p:384-394 DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2013.05.005 Access Statistics for this article Resources Policy is currently edited by R. G. Eggert More articles in Resources Policy from Elsevier |
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