Tracing China’s unseen rare earth exports that sustain global consumption
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Rare earth (RE) materials are critical to modern technologies, yet current research has largely overlooked the indirect exports of RE embedded in intermediate and final products. Leveraging the detailed inventories of China's RE flows and downstream usage constructed herein, this study addresses that gap by systematically tracing and decomposing China's indirect RE exports from 1990 to 2020 through the integration of environmentally extended multi-regional input-output (EEMRIO) analysis along with global value chain (GVC) and structural path analysis (SPA) methods. We find that over one-third of China's RE exports were indirectly embedded in traded goods with other regions during this period. This substantial outflow of embedded REs underscores China's important—yet often underrecognized—role in sustaining the global RE supply chain. These findings further reveal the complexity of RE trade and emphasize the need for comprehensive tracking of metal flows.
Source: Cell Reports Sustainability
Authors: Ling Shao, Kuishuang Feng, Zi Wu, Zhanheng Chen, Jianping Ge, Guo-Qian Chen, Bin Chen, Bo Zhang, Jiashuo Li, Wei-Qiang Chen
Institutions: China University of Geosciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Key Laboratory of Carrying Capacity Assessment for Resource and Environment, Ministry of Land and Resources, University of Maryland, College Park, Tsinghua University, Macau University of Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Xiamen University, Shandong University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Urban Environment
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,730
Awards: G4747806415, G5054877805, G6526125440
OpenAlex ID: W7101389069