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Chao Kong

China’s dominance in rare earth mining, refining and exports has long been viewed as a strategic advantage.
But a new study by Chinese researchers argues that the country’s rare earth industry has its own critical weakness.
“China is not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields,” the researchers wrote in the paper.
Published in the latest issue of the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the study shifts the focus away from resource reserves and production capacity, instead mapping high-end rare earth functional material technologies.
The researchers, from the University of Science and Technology of China, concluded that key patents underpinning advanced rare earth functional materials remained largely controlled by Japan and the United States.

These downstream compounds and components made from processed rare earths – including permanent magnets, catalysts and luminescent and polishing materials – accounted for more than 80 per cent of rare earth-related patents worldwide and represented the industry’s most commercially important applications.
In permanent magnets, Japan maintained an overall technological lead across most key patents. China was found to outperform competitors only in several alloy-related technologies, while remaining behind Japan and the US in permanent magnet materials, metal powder processing, cobalt-based alloys, sintering methods and rotor core technologies.
The gap was even more pronounced in catalytic materials, where the US led across virtually all identified core technologies, with China showing no clear advantage over other major competitors.
A similar pattern emerged in luminescent materials. The US retained leadership in most key technologies, while China held an advantage in only a limited number of silicon-containing materials, trailing in organic and inorganic luminescent materials, electroluminescence technologies and several advanced material systems.

In polishing materials, the US again ranked ahead in most critical manufacturing processes. China remained competitive in only a handful of technologies, including annealing methods, but continued to lag in polishing compounds, abrasives, rare earth compounds and several production processes essential to semiconductor and precision manufacturing.
The findings suggest that dominance in raw materials does not automatically translate into leadership in the technologies that create the highest-value products.
The researchers attributed the gap partly to the structure of China’s innovation system. Although the country files a large number of rare earth patents, relatively few are high-value international patents with broad commercial influence.
“China supplies more than 60 per cent of the world’s rare earth products, but its international patent layout remains insufficient and the share of high-value patents is relatively low,” the study noted.

The authors also found that many research advances never progressed beyond academic publications. Analysis of two decades of papers published in the Journal of Rare Earths showed that more than half of the identified research themes had not developed into significant patent portfolios, suggesting many scientific achievements remained at the laboratory stage rather than being commercialised.
Another factor was weak coordination between universities, the industry and intellectual property management.
“Universities often prioritise papers and research projects, while companies may delay patent deployment because of weak coordination between R&D and intellectual property teams,” the report said.
The researchers also argued that existing incentive mechanisms provided inadequate support for developing and protecting high-value patents.
“China should focus on areas with technological gaps, establish dedicated research programmes and strengthen collaboration between the industry and academia,” the report said.


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China

New study finds China lagging behind Japan and the US in key patents for advanced rare earth technologies


New study finds China lagging behind Japan and the US in key patents for advanced rare earth technologies.


China’s rare earth industry has critical weakness, researchers warn

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}New study finds China lagging behind Japan and the US in key patents for advanced rare earth technologies

New study finds China lagging behind Japan and the US in key patents for advanced rare earth technologies