Abstract
This paper evaluates 10 critical high-tech mineral resources—rare earths, lithium, cobalt, indium, germanium, tantalum, chromium, high-purity quartz, graphite, and fluorite—to provide an in-depth analysis of the severe challenges and structural contradictions China faces in ensuring their supply security. These minerals serve as fundamental pillars underpinning national technological innovation, the development of strategic emerging industries, and defense capabilities. Their global demand is rapidly growing, driven by the worldwide transition toward green, low-carbon technologies and industrial upgrading. However, China faces multifaceted pressures stemming from inherent constraints in domestic resource endowment, significant vulnerabilities across the supply chains, and critical dependencies on external actors within key segments of the industrial chain. Specifically, China exhibits a high degree of external reliance on most of these high-tech minerals, sourcing imports from a concentrated set of countries. This concentration exposes the supply chain to considerable risks arising from geopolitical tensions and policy volatility in resource-exporting nations. Domestically, the development of these resources is often hampered by a “triple-low” challenge: low ore grades, low recovery rates during processing, and low comprehensive utilization efficiency. Furthermore, the structure of related industrial chains is imbalanced. While China holds comparative advantages in upstream activities such as raw material extraction and primary processing, it critically depends on technological leaders such as the United States, Japan, and Germany in high value-added downstream sectors, including the production of advanced materials and core components. This dependency creates pronounced “bottleneck” or “chokepoint” risks that threaten the resilience and autonomy of China’s high-tech industries. To address these complex challenges, this paper proposes pathways and strategies for constructing a robust supply guarantee system for high-tech mineral resources, tailored to China’s specific national conditions. The proposed framework encompasses multiple, interconnected dimensions. It emphasizes the necessity of improving overall resource governance and refining market mechanisms to enhance stability and efficiency. Concurrently, a major focus is on driving technological innovation to achieve breakthroughs in areas such as environment-friendly extraction methods, efficient recycling technologies, and advanced preparation of high-end materials, which are crucial for overcoming the existing “triple-low” predicament and moving up the value chain. The strategies also advocate for proactive industrial upgrading to rebalance the industrial chain structure by fostering domestic capabilities in high value-added manufacturing segments and reducing downstream vulnerabilities. On the international stage, the study emphasizes the necessity of pursuing a proactive and diversified global engagement strategy. This involves expanding and securing resource partnerships through diplomatic and strategic investment initiatives, actively participating in shaping global resource governance frameworks, and mitigating risks associated with supply concentration. Finally, the paper highlights the critical need to establish a comprehensive, integrated domestic safeguarding system that synergistically combines exploration, development, strategic stockpiling, and emergency response mechanisms. These proposed measures primarily aim to provide a theoretical foundation and actionable policy insights for achieving a stable, secure, environmentally sustainable, and resilient supply of high-tech mineral resources, which is indispensable for supporting China’s long-term strategic development and technological advancement in an increasingly competitive global landscape.
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