Chen Yanhai, director general of the Department of Raw Material Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said recently that in 2010, MIIT will cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen the protection of resources and establish a rare metal reserve system.

China's reserves of rare metals including tungsten, indium and rare earth all rank first in the world, and the output of the metals accounts for over 80 percent of the world's total output, and deposits of rare metals such as molybdenum and germanium also rank among the most extensive in the world. However, cutthroat competition and price wars are severely wasting China's rare metal resources.

Chen said that China should promote the integration of the rare metal industry and form an industrial pattern led by large-scale enterprise groups, and China should also organize relevant departments and associations to research and propose rare metal management methods and perfect the long-acting rare metal management mechanism.

Meanwhile, MIIT will also cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen resource protection and establish a rare metal reserve system. The MIIT will strengthen its guidance and supervision on the rare metal management work of every place in China, and help establish province-level and lower rare metal coordination mechanisms.