Topic: Natural resources in China (2024)

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China's natural resources Rare earths in China Key insights Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic Current statistics on this topic Related topics Recommended Recommended statistics Overview Overview Fossil fuels Fossil fuels Mineral resources Mineral resources Exploration Exploration International trade International trade Water resources Water resources Land area Land area Further reportsGet the best reports to understand your industry Get the best reports to understand your industry Contact
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    • Primary resources, also known as natural resources, occur naturally and are derived from the environment in order to process them. Apart from resources such as water, air, sunlight, forest area or agricultural land, which exist as separate entities, other resources such as metals ores and fossil fuels have to be extracted from the soil to make them usable. Their value is predominantly determined by the relative scarcity of the resource in combination with its exploitability for industrial use. In modern industry, most natural resources are used as raw materials from which upstream materials and finished products are produced. As primary resources for energy and industrial production, they are a vital requirement of any economic activity.

    China's natural resources

    With a total surface area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China has abundant land resources and possesses strategic shares in various mineral resources. Due to its geologic preconditions, China has proved reserves of nearly all major minerals. As of 2022, proven reserves of iron ore in China had amounted to about 16 billion tons. But due to the low quality of its iron ore reserves, the demand of iron ore in China still heavily relies on iron ore imports.

    The domestic economy in China is largely based on energy-intensive heavy industrial production. In order to maintain its growth momentum, the country has subsequently increased its primary energy production to over 4.6 billion tons of coal equivalent as of 2022. China’s north-western regions such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, the so-called Chinese coal belt, not only produce huge amount of coal but also petroleum and natural gas. China invests billions yuan in geological exploration of resources every year, predominantly oil and gas. Among non-fossil resources, uranium and gold received the highest investment for geological exploration, around a billion yuan annually.

    Rare earths in China

    China has the biggest reserve of rare earths in the world. Rare earths have received heightened attention from international industries due to their applicability in different industries, among them the production of LED monitors, batteries and illuminants. In order to avoid over-exploitation, Chinese government had set strict export limits for rare earths exports since 2009, which led to a significant decrease in rare earths exports from over 50,000 tons in 2009 to about 30,000 tons right after. However, export quotas were scrapped after China lost a World Trade Organization case brought by its trading partners over controls that alarmed global technology producers. In the last few years, the rare earths exports of China showed a declining trend again but stabilized at around 48,000 tons in 2022.

    This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

    Published by C. Textor, Apr 11, 2024

    Key insights

    Major mineral reserves
    Iron ore, titanium, zinc

    Topic: Natural resources in China (2)

    Detailed statistics

    Proved reserves of major mineral resources in China 2022

    Mineral with highest global production share
    Gallium

    Topic: Natural resources in China (3)

    Detailed statistics

    Global critical minerals production share 2023, by majority producing country

    Mineral with highest production volume
    Cement

    Topic: Natural resources in China (4)

    Detailed statistics

    China's production volume of leading mineral commodities 2023

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    Topic: Natural resources in China (2024)
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