Timeline: The rise of China as a rare-earth power, 1980–2026
Last updated: October 2026
How China went from deposits in Inner Mongolia to holding most of the world's rare-earth mining and refining.
China’s rare-earth dominance was built over six decades — through research, low-cost production, export policy, and, lately, export controls. The timeline starts before 1980 because the Baotou foundation explains everything that follows; the 1980–2026 arc is the rise itself.
1963 — China founds the Baotou Rare Earth Research Institute, anchoring rare-earth research at Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia, home of the world’s largest rare-earth deposit.
1987 — Deng Xiaoping reportedly remarks that “the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths” — a line Beijing returns to for decades.
1992 — Deng revisits Baotou during his southern tour and again stresses the strategic importance of rare earths.
1990s — China expands rare-earth production rapidly; low prices undercut Western producers.
2002 — The Mountain Pass mine in California — once the world’s leading rare-earth source — idles as Chinese output dominates low-cost supply.
2006 — China tightens licensing and introduces export quotas on rare earths.
2010 — After a trawler collision near the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, China restricts rare-earth exports to Japan. Beijing denies an embargo; the episode alarms buyers worldwide.
2010–2011 — Rare-earth prices spike sharply, then fall back, as buyers scramble for non-Chinese supply.
2012 — The United States, the European Union, and Japan file a WTO case against China’s rare-earth export restrictions.
2014 — The WTO rules against China’s export quotas and duties on rare earths.
2015 — China removes the export quotas, replacing them with a resource tax and licensing regime.
2017 — Mountain Pass restarts under new ownership as MP Materials, reviving US rare-earth mining.
2019 — Xi Jinping visits a rare-earth plant in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, in May — a signal of leverage during the US–China trade war.
2020 — China passes an Export Control Law in December, creating the legal frame for later controls.
2023 — China announces export controls on gallium and germanium in July, effective 1 August — the first broad technology-material controls.
2023 — China bans the export of rare-earth extraction and separation technology in December.
2024 — China tightens rare-earth management regulations, effective 1 October, consolidating state oversight of the sector.
2025 — In February, China adds tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium to its export-control list.
2025 — In April, China imposes export licensing on seven heavy and medium rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium; shipments fall roughly 50%.
2025 — USGS data cited by the Bureau: China holds about 69% of world rare-earth mine production (270,000 t of about 390,000 t REO) and up to about 91% of refining (IEA).
Sources
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 and 2026 — production and refining shares.
International Energy Agency (IEA), rare-earth refining estimates.
World Trade Organization dispute records (2012 filing; 2014 ruling).
