Want to get rid of the rare earth dependence, after a lot of effort, the West has come up with another idea!
On January 1st, The New York Times published an article: "The West wants to build a domestic rare earth industry chain to reduce its reliance on China, but it is struggling to find a quick solution. Think tanks have advised policy makers to study the 60-year development of China's rare earth industry. China's dominant position in rare earth began with the discovery of the Baiyun Ebo mine in 1964. In the 1970s, Xu Guangxian and his wife established the series extraction theory, breaking the international monopoly. The 2010 Chinese export control on rare earth to Japan became a turning point for the industry. In 2023, China's rare earth mine production accounted for more than 60% of the global total, and the processing link accounted for 92%. Last year's implementation of export controls triggered concerns in the US and Western countries. Now, China has 39 universities offering rare earth-related courses, and has suspended the export of rare earth processing equipment. By the end of 2024, state-owned enterprises have acquired the world's only source of dysprosium supply, the Wuxi smelting plant, continuously consolidating their leading position."
[Witty] The West seeks to learn from China's rare earth: To learn from China, first, you need to take a 30-year course! The West is urgently trying to build a local rare earth industry chain to decouple, but can only copy The New York Times' long article, which is akin to a modern version of the story of the ugly woman imitating Xi Shi. How could China's 60 years of accumulation be achieved overnight? After the discovery of the Baiyun Ebo mine in 1964, Xu Guangxian and his wife broke through the extraction problems, breaking the monopoly of Europe, the US, and Japan. Now, China controls 92% of the global processing power, and there are 39 specialized universities, all hard-earned strengths accumulated over time. The US relies on China for 70% of its rare earth imports, and its processing costs are 30% to 40% higher than those in China. There is a talent shortage in mining, 40 years of gap, and approvals take 7-10 years. This situation is even worse than the technological backwardness during the era of isolationism. In 2010, China's cutoff of rare earth supplies to Japan caused panic in Japan. In 2024, China also gained control of the world's only dysprosium supply plant. China has already seized the initiative. The West is using Xu Guangxian's technology without paying, while complaining about export controls. They have forgotten that industrial hegemony is not achieved by shouting slogans — without decades of in-depth efforts, no matter how urgent, you can only stay in place on the list of choke points!
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853104643502087/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.