CHINA pledged to supply Japan and other countries with rare earth metals, sales of which were reportedly disrupted last month during a territorial dispute that soured relations between Asia s two largest economies.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made the vow during a trilateral meeting with counterparts from Japan and South Korea, Kim Hee Jung, a spokeswoman for South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, told reporters Friday in Hanoi. All three were attending meetings in Vietnam hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Wen said China will continue to supply rare earth to the international community, Kim told reporters after the meeting. Wen said China will work with major buyers in expanding the source of rare earth and developing alternative minerals, according to Kim.
China s customs bureau Friday denied cutting off outbound shipments of rare earth.
China has been reviewing export licenses and other paperwork for rare earth shipments. In July it said it was cutting export quotas for rare earth by 72 percent for the second half of the year.
Japan urged China on Friday to maintain exports of rare earth at the same level as last year, Japanese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Satoru Sato told reporters in Hanoi.
Having only one-third of the world s total reserves of rare earth, China exports more than 90 percent of world supply. It has come under pressure from Western countries regarding its recent export policy of the elements.
The recent rare earth row has prompted Japan, the United States and Germany to seek new supplies.
Prices of rare earths have climbed as much as sevenfold in the past six months. Greenwood, Colorado-based Molycorp Inc. and Sydney-based Lynas Corp. plan to open rare earth mines in the United States and Australia in the next two years.
China s Commerce Minister on Oct. 20 pledged to maintain supplies of rare earth and denied suggestions there was an embargo on shipments. The export cuts are related to environmental and conservation efforts, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara on Friday in Hanoi.
China on Saturday gave the United States assurances it would not use rare earth minerals as a political or economic tool, a U.S. official said after their foreign ministers met.(SD-Agencies)
