BEIJING: A regulation implementing the revised Mineral Resources Law came into force on Monday, strengthening governance of strategic minerals across the full supply chain to safeguard industries critical to advanced manufacturing, clean energy and national defense.
The regulation, which contains 79 articles in eight chapters, was issued on the first anniversary of the revised law as its core supporting administrative measure. It consolidates previous regulations on mineral exploration, mining registration, mining rights transfers, supervision and resource compensation fees into a unified legal framework.
Yan Bo, director of the department of legislation at the Ministry of Natural Resources, said at a news conference in Beijing that mineral resources are a vital material foundation for economic and social development and that their exploration and development are closely tied to the national economy, people’s livelihoods and national security.
“The enforcement of the regulation marks the basic establishment of a legal system anchored by ‘one law and one regulation’ for mineral resource governance and has further consolidated the legal foundation for mineral resource management,” Yan said.
“It is of great significance for enhancing mineral resource security, promoting rational development and utilization, and advancing high-quality development of the mining industry,” he added.
The regulation emphasizes coordination across the full mineral resource chain — including exploration, mining, processing, trade and reserves — to strengthen domestic resource security, said Huang Xuexiong, director of the ministry’s department of mineral resources protection and supervision.
It specifies how the strategic mineral catalog should be compiled, classifying minerals according to their importance to the national economy and security, resource endowment, scarcity, external dependence and supply chain resilience. Certain minerals will be subject to protective mining measures, including production planning, output controls and restrictions on mining qualifications. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
