This year, a total of 30,184 tons of rare earth export quotas have dispelled international concerns.

According to the People's Daily report, the Ministry of Commerce recently issued the second batch of rare earth export quotas for general trade in 2011, and a total of 31 enterprises received rare earth export quotas, totaling 15,738 tons. Among them, Baosteel Group Corporation and Minmetals Corporation received 3,220 tons and 1,327 tons of rare earth quotas respectively.

In 2011, China's first batch of rare earth export quota was 14,446 tons, which was 11.4% lower than the first batch of quotas in 2010. Accordingly, China’s total annual export quota for rare earths totaled 30,184 tons, a slight drop of 74 tons from 2010.

The rare earth quota issued by the Ministry of Commerce will dispel the international concerns about China's tightening exports of rare earth products. Earlier, Europe and the United States accused China of restricting the export of rare earths, indicating that they have no basis for accusing China of this issue.

China is not only a single border measure to reduce export quotas in export trade. To impose the same restrictions on the domestic production and consumption of raw materials including rare earths, and to use uniform standards for the use of raw materials for export, the simultaneous implementation of the domestic production, consumption, and export of raw material primary products will be implemented. We must formulate long-term and predictable plans for the development and export of raw materials so that countries that require raw materials can adjust their production capacity as soon as possible to reduce demand and try to avoid unemployment and economic stagnation.