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 regulation also calls for the establishment of a three-tier reserve system combining product reserves, production capacity reserves and deposit-based reserves, supported by a supply-security monitoring and early-warning mechanism, Huang said.
To accelerate domestic exploration, holders of exploration rights will be allowed to transition directly to mining permits after confirming commercially viable deposits. Existing mining-right holders will also be permitted to continue exploration in the deeper and upper extensions of their mining areas.
The regulation introduces import and export management requirements and provides for countermeasures against actions that threaten China's mineral resources and related industrial supply chains, Huang said.
Huang said improving conservation and intensive utilization of resources is an important step toward strengthening mineral resource security. The ministry will work with relevant departments to develop national standards for three key indicators — mining recovery rate, beneficiation recovery rate and comprehensive utilization rate — covering 125 mineral types. The effort will upgrade existing industry specifications into national standards.
The ministry will also regularly update a catalog of advanced technologies for comprehensive resource utilization and guide mining enterprises to improve mining efficiency and resource use, raising the overall level of conservation and intensive utilization of mineral resources.
