China Has Opened Up Some Metal Industry Including Tungsten to Foreign Investment

China will lift restrictions a variety of products in the metal industry to foreign investment, including antimony, tungsten, molybdenum and tin.

On the second day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump agreed to restart stalled trade negotiations, new changes will take effect on July 30. The United States has been pushing China to allow more foreign investment and reduce state support for industry.

The move could encourage foreign companies to develop antimony resources in China. Foreign investment will help mines in Guangxi and other provinces to improve their mining technology, because the deposits in these areas are difficult to mine and extract because of their low metal grade and high impurity content.

The barrier to foreign investment in mining, tungsten exploration and concentration sector, but foreign investors will allowed to engage in production about higher value added materials, for example high-temperature resistance tungsten wires and other highly-processed products.

Restriction of exploration and mining for tin and molybdenum will be lifted. As the largest molybdenum producer in the world, the production in China accounts for 30-40% of globally.

China will keeping restrict mining of rare earth to the six large state-controlled companies, but will encourage foreign investment in high-end applications using rare earth as raw materials. Beijing opened the rare earth separation and smelting to foreign investment without any limits.

China has also expected new energy vehicles and intelligent vehicles to attract foreign funds. These productions use a lot of rare earths and battery metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese as feedstock.

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