关于稀土的毕业论文外文文献与翻译--中国的稀土产业：西方能学到什么？

中文4870字

China's Rare Earth Elements Industry: What Can the West

Learn?

By Cindy Hurst

Corporate Author: INSTITUTE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL SECURITY WASHINGTON DC

Personal Author(s): Hurst, Cindy

Report Date: MAR 2010

Pagination or Media Count: 43

Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS)

U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office, 731 McClellan Avenue, Fort Leavenworth, KS, 66027

Cindy Hurst is an analyst for the U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS

Introduction

China controls approximately 97 percent of the world's rare earth element market. These elements, which are not widely known because they are so low on the production chain, are critical to hundreds of high tech applications, many of which define our modern way of life. Without rare earth elements, much of the world's modern technology would be vastly different and many applications would not be possible. For one thing, we would not have the advantage of smaller sized technology, such as the cell phone and laptop computer, without the use of rare earth elements. Rare earth elements are also essential for the defense industry and are found in cruise missiles, precision guided munitions, radar systems and reactive armor. They are also key to the emergence of green technology such as the new generation of wind powered turbines and plug-in hybrid vehicles, as well as to oil refineries, where they act as a catalyst. (Note: for more in-depth information on the specific uses of rare earth elements, refer to Appendix A).

Over the past few years, China has come under increasing scrutiny and

export quotas of these resources. However, China is faced with its own internal issues that, if not addressed, could soon stress the country's rare earth industry.

This paper is designed to give the reader a better understanding of what rare earth elements are and their importance to society in general and to U.S. defense and energy policy in particular. It will also explore the history of rare earth elements and China's current monopoly of the industry, including possible repercussions and strategic implications if rare earth elements supply were to be disrupted.

The Issues China Faces

According to Zhao Shuanglian, Vice Chairman of Inner Mongolia?s Autonomous Regions, “Rare earth is a unique treasure, and it is also Inner Mongolia?s primary strategic resource.”While China possesses approximately 57 percent of the world?s reserves of rare earth elements, the industry within China is plagued with disorderly development and poor management practices. The Chinese government fears that if the current poor mining practices and lack of regulation continue, China will “become a rare-earth poor country, or even a country without rare earth elements.”Other issues facing China?s rare earth industry are smuggling and illegal mining activities, environmental damage due to poor mining practice, and the growing challenge of ensuring its own domestic needs of rare earth.

Smuggling

According to China Business News, due to the annual increased demand for rare earth elements, many buyers are resorting to smuggling rare earths out of China. In 2008, approximately 20,000 tons of rare earth were reportedly smuggled from the country. Meanwhile, during that same year, according to official customs statistics, China exported 39,500 tons of rare earth oxide. This means that smuggling accounted for one-third of the total volume of rare earths leaving China.

One aim of China?s “Rare-Earth Industry Development Plan of 2009-2015” is to try to curb some of the smuggling by introducing regulations and policies to punish the smugglers. Smuggling is potentially detrimental to China?s rare earth

also indicates a severe lack of control over the industry and can lead to even greater repercussions such as more damage to the environment. Regulations on safe mining practice are nearly impossible to enforce in this type of environment. As it is, because of poor management practices and the large scale of the industry, China already has difficulty in enforcing regulations to improve safety and environmental measures in its rare earth industry.

Severe environmental damage

A major concern surrounding China?s practice of mining rare earth elements is the negative impact it has to the environment due to lax mining practices. There are a number of potential environmental implications to mining rare earth elements if not done properly. Unfortunately, because of the revenue potential, many rare earth mines have been operating illegally, with no regulation, causing severe environmental hazards, which exacerbates the problem.

In 2005, Xu Guangxian wrote that thorium was a source of radioactive contamination in the Baotou area and the Yellow River. According to a local source, who asked not to be identified, “In the Yellow River, in Baotou, the fish all died. They dump the waste – the chemicals into the river. You cannot eat the fish because they are polluted.” Some 150 million people depend on the river as their primary source of water.

Under traditional technology means, refining rare earth elements requires such chemicals as ammonium bicarbonate and oxalic acid. The potential health hazards of ammonium bicarbonate include: Irritation to the respiratory tract if inhaled, irritation to the gastrointestinal tract if ingested, redness and pain if it comes in contact with the eyes, and redness, itching, and pain if it comes in contact with the skin. Oxalic acid is poisonous and potentially fatal if swallowed. It is also corrosive and causes severe irritation and burns to the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract, is harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and can cause kidney damage. These and other chemicals often find their way into the Yellow River.

Safety standards in China are lax. “People in their 30s have died of cancer working around the mines, possibly from radioactive materials,” said one local

so urce. “I visited a factory many times. When I visit a factory or workshop, I tell

when they are doing their job?? He said, …Oh yeah. We do every time, but it?s too hot. They do n?t want to keep their mask on.? You can see that the air is dirty and they are breathing it all in.” The most common disease in Baotou is pneumoconiosis, better known as black lung. There are 5,387 residents in Baotou who suffer from black lung, which makes up more than 50 percent of the cases in the autonomous region.

While China might have general pollution control standards, the country has never actually worked out pollutant discharge standards for the rare earth industry. As the rare earth industry in China has rapidly grown, there has been no effective way to control the usual pollutants such as ammonia, nitrogen, and thorium dust, which are emitted during the production phase. Furthermore, general health and safety regulations are often ignored for a number of reasons, including: ? The industry is large and challenging to monitor.

? People and companies are not being held accountable. For example, in Western society, if an employee dies or becomes ill, repercussions could include a lawsuit or life-long pension which the company is obligated to fulfill. This is not the case in China.

Domestic consumption is a priority

With 1.3 billion people and the fastest growing economy in the world, China is faced with the challenging task of ensuring it has adequate natural resources to sustain economic growth, while also trying to appease the international community, which has been protesting China?s cuts in rare earth export quotas.

According to Wang Caifeng, in 2008 China used 70,000 tons of rare earth elements. Global consumption was 130,000 tons. China exported 10,000 tons of rare earth magnets worth $400 million and 34,600 tons of other rare earth products worth $500 million.

There are numerous examples that point to China?s anticipated increase in

rare earth consumption. For example, at the end of July 2008, China had 600 million cell phone users. Less than one year later, by the end of March 2009, China had 670 million cell phone users. New technologies, such as the third generation (3G) networks, have boosted the sale of cell phones, a trend which will likely

the new technologies. Putting it into perspective, in China, approximately 50 percent of the population has cell phones. CTIA, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, reported in October 2008 that the U.S. (with a population of 304 million people as of July 2008) had more than 262 million wireless subscribers. This means that 86 percent of the entire U.S. population had cell phones. If China were to follow the same technological growth patterns as the U.S., the country could one day have approximately 1.1 billion cell phones or more.

In another example, the use of solar and wind power are set to increase exponentially in China. Green energy technology is expected to become the largest consumer of rare earth elements in the future. According to Mark Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Molycorp Minerals, the company that owns and operates the Mounta in Pass rare earth mine in California, “We?ve coined the term, …the green elements.? because there are so many applications right now hybrid electric vehicles, wind powered generation …permanent magnet generators, compact fluorescent light bulbs … Just to name a few. Rare earths are absolutely indispensable. They (green technologies) will not work without rare earths.”

China?s consumption of rare earth elements is also expected to increase dramatically as more and more foreign companies move their production sites to China to take advantage of the lower cost of rare earths and therefore reduce their overall production costs. This is part of China?s larger strategy to maintain a tight hold on the industry.

China Fights Back before it’s too Late: Imp lications for the West

In 2005, Xu Guangxian called for protective measures in the rare earth industry, warning that rare earth and thorium resources at Bayan Obo were in “urgent need of protection and rational utilization.” Xu pointed out that since Bayan Obo had started off exclusively as an iron ore mine, it did not properly consider ways to recover rare earths and thorium. Since 1958, when Baotou Iron and Steel Works began their mining operations, 250 million tons of ore had been mined at the main and eastern ore bodies, leaving a remaining ore volume of 350

–Xu estimated that the main and eastern ore bodies would be completely depleted within 35 years.

With so much emphasis placed on the importance of rare earth elements in modern day technology, maintaining strict control over this resource will help to propel China into a position of greater political, economic, and military power. Prior to 2009, according to Dai Xu, an expert on military issues, “China had been selling these precious rare-earth metals at a dirt-cheap price for 20 years.”This has both been stripping the country of one of its most important strategic resources and damaging the environment.

In an effort to try to protect its resources, the Chinese government has been clamping down on its domestic industry in several ways, including: restricting export quotas on rare earth elements; closing down smaller and illegal rare earth operations and consolidating larger ones in an effort to gain more control; trying to put into place increased environmental laws regulating rare earth mining; and stockpiling. Much of the developed world regards these measures as threatening.

Restricting export quotas

Of most concern to the international community, China has been restricting export quotas in order to have enough resources for its own industries and to regain control over its domestic operations. China currently restricts export quotas on dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium, yttrium, and the heavy and scarcer rare earths. This reduction of export quotas has pushed up the international price of key rare earths, including neodymium which is so critical for the

neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets.

The Ministry of Land and Resources implemented a regulation stating that the 2009 export quota for rare earth ores would be set at 82,320 tons, 72,300 of which are light rare earth elements, the remaining 10,020 tons being heavy rare earth elements. These numbers were based on “controls of the total amount of extraction for” rare earth ore for 2008 and forecasts for market factors in 2009. More cuts are expected in the future.

Of course, this brings about a new fear. China?s control over rare earth elements has the potential to increase foreign dependence on China for finished

at its roots. China?s vision is to increase industrial utilization of rare earth elements in order to draw in more rare earth enterprises, both within and outside of China, to set up operations in Inner Mongolia in the area of rare earth applications. Zhao Shuanglian pointed out that Inner Mongolia wanted to control its rare earth resources so that it could become a major industrial base. Zhao also expressed an interest in attracting more domestic and international interest in Inner Mongolia to develop the rare earth industry. This is an ideal scenario for China because it will give the country complete control over the industry and provide more job opportunities for Chinese citizens in the manufacturing industry. However, for those countries forced to move their production bases to China due to their dependence on rare earth elements, jobs are lost and, perhaps more critical to national security, proprietary and even critical technologies will likely be compromised.

Closing smaller operations and consolidating larger ones to gain more control

China is striving to cut back and consolidate the industry to gain more control over it. It is achieving this by closing down smaller, illegal operations and consolidating and merging larger producers. These steps will ultimately put complete control over Chinese rare earth elements into the government?s hands, which will completely restrict any type of private enterprise exchange.

China?s rare earth resources are widely distributed across 22 provinces and regions throughout the country. Because of the scattered distribution of rare earth resources, it is difficult to carry out efficient oversight of the industry. According

to one source, a revised draft of the 2009-2015 Plans for Developing the Rare Earth Industry will simplify management of China?s rare earth resources by “designating large districts.” The new plan will divide China?s industry into three large districts – south, north, and west. The southern district is Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, and Guangxi; the northern district is Inner Mongolia and Shandong; and the western district is Sichuan. From 2009 to 2015, light rare earths will be the item of focus in Inner Mongolia and Sichuan, with some development in Shandong as needed. Medium and heavy rare earth mining will be the focus in Jiangxi,

oversee the industry by creating an expert examination system for rare earth extraction. The system will include impromptu onsite visits and inspections to ensure national directive plans are being implemented and executed.

On 10 December 2008, Baotou Steel Rare Earth set up the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth High-Tech Co., a state-owned sole-proprietor company in the rare earths high-tech zone of Inner Mongolia; and Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth High-Tech Co. was an eight-party, 700-million Yuan ($102.5 million) joint venture that included Baotou Huamei Rare Earth High-tech Co., Zibo Baosteel Lingzhi Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co., Inner Mongolia Baosteel and Rare-Earth Development Co. The new venture is supposed to be the controlling voice of the rare earth industry by using a new business model with a unified organization and production arrangement, unified purchasing, and unified sales. Prior to this, the state had promoted the idea of establishing two major rare earth groups, one in the north and one in the south. However, it was difficult to balance the interests between the two enterprises and the plan never came to fruition. The biggest advantage to having one enterprise in charge of the industry is easier central control of pricing. Having a centralized enterprise should also facilitate turning the region into a rare earth “production of goods” zone.

New regulations to protect the environment

China does not have pollutant discharge standards for the rare earth industry. Environmental issues behind the mining of rare earth elements are a huge concern. The differences between Western mining efforts and those seen in China today are staggering. Aware of the problem, the local government is reporting to be trying to find ways to improve the situation.

In July 2009, the Ministry of Environmental Protection organized the “Rare Earth Industry Pollutant Discharge Standards.” These new standards will hopefully “eliminate backward production abilities and promote the upgrading and updating of China?s rare earth industry.”

The Ministry of Environmental Protection set discharge standards for six types of atmospheric pollutants – sulfur dioxide, particles, fluoride, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, and sulfur trioxide. For water pollutants, discharge standards

carbon, total nitrogen, and ammonia nitrogen. In many southern regions with lakes, the new standards implement special discharge limits for ammonia nitrogen discharge concentrations. These new standards are split into two parts, one part for existing enterprises and the other part for newly built enterprises. Under the new standards, rare earth enterprises are required to increase their investment in environmental protection and improve production technologies and costs.

Stockpiling

Xu Guangxian, China?s “Father of Rare Earths,” has been pushing to have China build up its strategic reserves of rare earths. According to Xu, “We (China) must set up a stockpiling system for rare earths and thorium (thorium for energy) and support leading domestic producers like Baogang, Minmetals, and Jiangxi Copper to implement the stockpiling.”

According to Xu, Japan and South Korea have built up stockpiles, which are enough for 20 years of consumption, by taking advantage of low market prices before 2008 when China began to restrict production, but China hasn?t set up a stockpiling system yet.

According to An Sihu, assistant director of the Rare Earth High-Tech Zone Management Committee, China has major plans to build a national rare earth resources strategic reserves base. The tentative plan is to store up the raw materials that were not used up from the annual excavation at Baosteel and use that to stabilize prices. Efforts currently are underway in Northern China to realize this goal. A new rare earth industry park began construction in July 2008 and is to be located in Northern China. However, in order to be completely effective, all of China?s rare earth regions nee d to consolidate their efforts toward the construction and use of this planned rare earth strategic reserve site.

Xu continually warns about depleting rare earth reserves from over production. Stockpiling rare earth elements will allow China to better regulate the pricing of rare earths as well as help ensure its own future supplies.

From https://www.wendangku.net/doc/25575885.html,/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA525378

中国的稀土产业：西方能学到什么？

辛蒂·赫斯特

集团作者：华盛顿全球安全分析研究所

个人作者：辛蒂·赫斯特

发表日期：2010年3月

全球安全分析研究所（IAGS）

堪萨斯州利温沃斯堡麦克莱伦大街731号美国陆军外国军事研究室，66027

辛蒂·赫斯特：堪萨斯州利温沃斯堡美国陆军外国军事研究办公室分析师。

引言

中国控制着全球约97%的稀土市场。这些元素并不广为人知，因为他们在生产链中是如此之低，但却是成百上千的高科技应用的关键，其中的许多决定了我们的现代生活方式。没有稀土元素，世界上大部分的现代科技将大大不同，许多应用型产品也将无法使用。一方面，不使用稀土元素，我们就没有微型技术的优势，如手机和笔记本电脑。稀土元素对国防工业也是必不可少的，应用于巡航导弹，精确制导武器，雷达系统和反应装甲。他们也是绿色技术得以发展的关键，如新一代的风力发电机和插电式混合动力汽车以及炼油厂，均需要稀土元素作催化剂。

在过去的几年中，中国对其垄断的稀土行业的审查和批评日益严格，并逐渐减少稀土的出口配额。然而，中国面临着自身的内部问题，如果不解决，可能很快就会对其稀土行业产生不利影响。

本文的目的是让读者更好地了解稀土元素和它们在社会上的一般重要性，以及对美国国防和能源政策的特殊性。本文还将探讨稀土元素与中国目前的行业垄断的历史，包括在稀土元素供应被中断后可能产生的影响和战略意义。

中国面临的问题

根据内蒙古自治区副主席赵双连所说，“稀土是一种独特的珍宝，也是内蒙古的主要战略资源”。尽管中国拥有约占世界57%的稀土储量，但中国的稀土行业存在的无序发展和管理不善的问题。中国政府担心，如果目前这种简陋的开采方式和监管的缺乏

土行业面临的其他问题还有稀土走私和非法采矿活动，恶劣开采方式所造成的环境破坏以及确保不断增长的国内稀土需求的挑战。

走私

据第一财经日报，由于每年对稀土资源的不断增长的需求，很多买家都从中国走私稀土。据报道，2008年该国约20000吨稀土被走私。同时根据海关统计数据，同一年中国出口了39500吨稀土氧化物。这意味着走私占中国出境稀土总量的三分之一。

“中国稀土产业2009-2015发展计划”的一个目的是试图通过引入惩罚走私者的法规和政策来遏制走私行为。走私对中国稀土产业具有潜在的不利影响，它价格低，消耗资源也更快。走私也表明严重缺乏对行业的控制，这可能会造成更大的不利影响，如对环境产生更多的破坏。安全开采方式的法规几乎不可能在这种环境中执行。实际上，由于糟糕的管理实践和巨大的行业规模，中国在执行提高安全的法规和贯彻稀土行业的环境保护措施方面具有难度。

严重的环境破坏

中国稀土开采的关注重点是由松懈的开采方式对环境所造成的负面影响。如果做得不恰当，会有许多潜在的环境因素影响稀土开采。不幸的是，由于可观的收入，许多稀土矿山缺乏监管，非法经营，造成了严重的环境危害，这加剧了问题的严重性。

2005年，徐光宪写道，钍元素是包头和黄河地区的放射性污染源。根据当地一位不愿透露姓名的人士，“在黄河、包头，鱼都死了。他们把化学品废弃物倒入河中。你不能吃鱼，因为他们都被污染了。”约1.5亿人依靠河流作为他们的主要水源。

传统的技术手段下，提炼稀土元素需要碳酸氢铵和草酸这样的化学品。碳酸氢铵的潜在健康危害包括：如果吸入会刺激呼吸道，吸收后会刺激胃肠道，如果接触眼睛会使其发红和疼痛，如果与皮肤接触会使其发红、瘙痒甚至疼痛。草酸是有毒的，如果吞下则可能致命。它也具有强烈的腐蚀性，会对皮肤、眼睛和呼吸道造成严重的刺激和灼伤，如果吸入或通过皮肤吸收是十分有害的，会导致肾脏损伤。但这些和其他化学物质经常流入黄河。

在中国的安全标准比较宽松。“在矿山工作的人们30多岁就死于癌症，很可能是由于放射性物质”，一位当地人士说。“我多次参观了一个工厂，当我参观一个工厂或车间，我问车间主任：‘当他们工作时你会告诉工人叫他们戴上面具吗？’他说：‘是的，我们每次都会，但它太烫了，他们不想戴着面具。’你可以看到，他们污浊的空气都吸了进去。”在包头最常见的疾病是尘肺病，一般多称为黑肺。有5387个包头居民

虽然中国可能有一般污染控制标准，但国家还没有制定出稀土工业污染物排放标准。中国的稀土产业在迅速成长，但却一直没有控制如氨、氮以及钍尘等在生产阶段产生的常见污染物的有效途径。此外，一般的健康和安全规章制度往往由于各种原因而被忽视，包括：

?行业庞大，实行监测具有挑战性。

?个人和企业不承担责任。例如，在西方社会，如果一个雇员死亡或生病，后果可能包括诉讼和终身年金，这是公司必须义务履行的，但在中国却不是这样的。

满足国内消费是当务之急

作为世界上具有13亿人口和经济增长最快的国家，中国面临着具有挑战性的任务，既要确保国内具有足够的自然资源来维持经济增长，同时也试图满足已在抗议中国削减稀土出口配额的国际社会。

根据王采风，2008年中国消耗了7万吨稀土资源，全球消费量为13万吨。中国出口1万吨稀土永磁体价值4亿美元，34600吨的其他稀土产品价值5亿美元。

有无数的例子指出中国的稀土消费量预计增加。例如，2008年7月底，中国有6亿手机用户。不到一年后，2009年3月底，中国有6.7亿手机用户。新技术如第三代（3G）网络增加了手机的销量，这一趋势很可能会继续，越来越多的中国公民会购买手机，其他人员则将不断升级达到最新技术。整体来看，中国大约一半人口拥有手机。国际无线通信协会在2008年10月报道，美国（截至2008年7月人口为3.04亿）有超过2.62亿的手机用户。这意味着整个美国86%的人口拥有手机。如果中国遵循与美国相同的技术增长模式，中国有一天可能会有大约11亿的手机用户甚至更多。

另一个例子中，太阳能和风能的使用在中国将以指数方式增加。绿色能源技术有望成为未来稀土资源的最大消费者。根据莫利矿业公司的首席执行官马克·史密斯，该公司拥有和经营加利福尼亚帕斯山的稀土矿，“我们创造了这个术语‘绿色元素’，因为有这么多的产品需要应用稀土元素如混合动力汽车、风力发电机……永磁发电机、紧凑型荧光灯泡等等。稀土是必不可少的，没有稀土他们（绿色技术）将无法正常运作”。

随着越来越多的外国企业将其生产基地转移到中国，利用其罕见的低成本稀土来降低整体生产成本，中国的稀土消费也将急剧增加。这是中国为紧紧把握稀土行业的大战略的一部分。

中国及时的对策措施：对西方的启示

2005年，徐光宪呼吁对稀土产业实行保护措施，并提出警告白云鄂博的稀土和钍资源“迫切需要保护和合理利用”。徐指出，自从白云鄂博开始专门生产稀土矿，它没有适当地考虑回收稀土和钍元素的方式。1958年开始，包头钢铁厂开始采矿作业，2.5亿吨的矿石已在主体矿和东部矿体开采，留下剩余的3.5亿吨矿石量。以中国现有的开采速度，每年1000万吨，徐估计主矿和东矿会在35年内完全耗尽。

不断强调稀土资源在现代科技中的重要性，保持对该资源的严格控制，将有助于推动中国提升到更高的政治、经济和军事力量的地位。2009年之前，根据一位军事问题专家戴煦，“中国贱卖这些珍贵的稀土金属已经长达20年”。这不但损耗了该国最重要的战略资源之一，还破坏了生态环境。

为了努力保护稀土资源，中国政府已经采取几种方式来严格限制其国内行业，包括：限制稀土出口配额，关闭小型非法的稀土企业，巩固大型企业努力获取更多控制，试图将增加的规范稀土开采的环境保护法规付诸实践，以及实行稀土储备。许多发达国家认为这些措施对他们构成威胁。

限制稀土出口配额

国际社会最关注的是，中国为了使本国产业的发展有足够的资源，并收回对国内企业的控制权，已经采取了限制出口配额的制度措施。中国目前的出口配额限制针对镝、铽、铥、镥、钇元素……以及稀有的重稀土资源。出口配额的削减推动了关键稀土资源国际价格的上涨，包括钕元素，它是制造钕铁硼永磁体产品的关键元素。

国土资源部所实施的规定指出，2009年稀土矿的出口配额将定在82320吨，其中72300吨是轻稀土元素，其余10020吨是重稀土元素。这些数字是根据从2008年的稀土矿中所提取的控制总量以及对2009年市场因素的预测所确定的。在未来预计会有更多的削减。

当然，这带来了一种新的恐惧。中国对稀土资源的控制具有提高国外对中国稀土成品依赖性的潜力。中国政府实行各种政策进一步发展根本的稀土产业。中国的目标是提高稀土资源的产业利用率，吸引更多的国内外稀土企业在内蒙古成立稀土应用领域的企业。赵双连指出，内蒙古想控制它的稀土资源，成为一个主要的工业基地。赵还表示，吸引更多国内外企业对内蒙古产生兴趣的利益在于发展稀土行业。对中国来说这是一个理想情况，因为这将使政府实现对整个行业完全控制，并为制造业的中国公民提供更多的就业机会。然而，那些由于依赖稀土资源而被迫将他们的生产基地转移到中国的国家，其国民失去工作，也许更关键的国防安全、专利权甚至是关键技术都可能会因妥协而泄露。

关闭小企业、整合大型企业，获取更多控制权

中国正在努力削减并整合行业以获得更多控制权。通过关闭违规的小型企业、整合归并较大的生产商来实现目标。这些步骤最终会使中国的稀土资源完全掌控在政府手中，这将完全限制任何形式的民营企业间的交流。

中国的稀土资源广泛分布在全国22个省份和地区。由于稀土资源分布零散，难以对整个实行有效的全面监管。根据一份原始资料，用于开发稀土行业2009-2015年发展规划的修订草案将通过“指定区域”来简化中国稀土资源的管理。新计划将中国的产业分为三大区----南、北、西。南部地区是江西、广东、福建、湖南以及广西；北部地区是内蒙古和山东；西部地区是四川。从2009到2015年，轻稀土资源将成为内蒙古和四川的重点项目。中、重稀土开采将是江西、广东和福建的重点。工业和信息化部将通过对稀土萃取的专业检查系统监督整个行业。该系统将包括即兴的现场视察和检查以确保国家指令计划的实施和执行。

2008年12月10日，包头钢铁稀土成立内蒙古包头钢铁稀土高科技公司，是内蒙古地区稀土高新技术领域的一家国有独资企业；包头钢铁稀土高科技有限公司是一个资产7亿元（1.025亿美元）由八大公司联合经营的企业，包括包头华美稀土高科技有限公司，淄博宝钢灵芝稀土高新技术有限公司，内蒙古宝钢和稀土开发有限公司。新的公司被认为是稀土行业的统一控制声音，使用统一组织和生产安排、统一采购、统一销售的新的商业模式。在此之前，国家已经有了建立两个主要稀土集团的想法，一个在北方，另一个在南方。然而，两个集团之间的利益难以平衡，这个计划没有能够实现。有一个主要企业负责整个行业的最大优势在于能更容易地实现对统一定价的控制。中心企业也要便于将该地区变成稀土生产商品区。

保护环境的新法规

中国没有稀土产业污染物的排放标准。稀土资源开采背后的环境问题是一个巨大的关注点。西部矿业的努力与如今在中国的所见情况之间的差异是惊人的。意识到这个问题，当地政府要去向上报告并努力寻找改善这种状况的方式。

2009年7月，环保部发布了“稀土工业污染物排放标准”。这些新标准将很有希望能“淘汰落后生产能力，促进中国稀土产业的升级换代”。

环保部为六种大气污染物----二氧化硫，污染颗粒，氟，氯，氯化氢以及三氧化硫设立了排放标准。为14种水污染物包括氟化物，总磷量，总碳量，总氮量以及氨氮设置了排放标准。在有许多湖泊的南部地区，实施的新标准对氨氮排放浓度设置了特别的排放限值。这些新标准分为两部分，一部分为现有企业，另外则为新建企业。根据

实行稀土储备

中国的“稀土之父”徐光宪一直推动中国建立稀土战略储备。据徐说，“我们（中国）必须建立一个稀土资源和钍（能源钍）的储备制度，支持国内主要的生产者如宝钢，五矿集团和江西铜实施资源储备”。

据徐说，日本和韩国利用2008年以前中国未开始限制生产时低廉的市场价格建立了储备制度，足够他们20年的稀土消费，但中国还没有建立起一个储备系统。

根据稀土高新区管理委员会副主任安思虎，中国有建立国家稀土资源战略储备基地的大型计划。初步计划是储存宝钢每年开采的未用完的原材料，并用以稳定价格。目前，中国北方正努力实现这一目标。一个新的稀土工业园区将于2008年7月开始建设，位于中国北方，然而，为了充分有效的，中国所有的稀土地区要加强他们对这个计划的稀土战略储备基地的建设和使用的努力。

徐光宪不断警告过量生产会耗尽稀土储量。而储备稀土资源将使中国更好地调控稀土的定价，并有助于确保自己的未来稀土供应。

来源https://www.wendangku.net/doc/25575885.html,/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA525378