China Soon May Need to Import Rare Earths, Mining Official Says

China, which controls about 95 percent of global shipments of rare earths, may start importing some of the material to meet rising domestic demand, according to Liu Junhua, a Chinese official.

“China may eventually need to import the materials,” Liu, the deputy secretary for Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone Committee said today in an interview after speaking at the International Rare Earth Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There’s a “strong possibility of importing heavy rare earths” in the next three to four years, he said through an interpreter.