René Muschter
Research Expert covering Industry & Mobility
Natural resources in China - statistics & facts
Primary resources, also known as natural resources, occur naturally and are derived from the environment in order to process them. Apart from resources such as water, air, sunlight, forest area or agricultural land, which exist as separate entities, other resources such as metals ores and fossil fuels have to be extracted from the soil to make them usable. Their value is predominantly determined by the relative scarcity of the resource in combination with its exploitability for industrial use. In modern industry, most natural resources are used as raw materials from which upstream materials and finished products are produced. As primary resources for energy and industrial production, they are a vital requirement of any economic activity.
The domestic economy in China is largely based on energy-intensive heavy industrial production. In order to maintain its growth momentum, the country has subsequently increased its primary energy production to over nearly five billion tons of coal equivalent as of 2024. China’s north-western regions such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, the so-called Chinese coal belt, not only produce huge amount of coal but also petroleum and natural gas. China invests billions yuan in geological exploration of resources every year, predominantly oil and gas. Among non-fossil resources, uranium and gold received the highest investment for geological exploration, around a billion yuan annually.
China's natural resources
With a total surface area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China has abundant land resources and possesses strategic shares in various mineral resources. Due to its geologic preconditions, China has proved reserves of nearly all major minerals. As of 2023, proven reserves of iron ore in China had amounted to almost 17 billion tons. But due to the low quality of its iron ore reserves, the demand of iron ore in China still heavily relies on iron ore imports.The domestic economy in China is largely based on energy-intensive heavy industrial production. In order to maintain its growth momentum, the country has subsequently increased its primary energy production to over nearly five billion tons of coal equivalent as of 2024. China’s north-western regions such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, the so-called Chinese coal belt, not only produce huge amount of coal but also petroleum and natural gas. China invests billions yuan in geological exploration of resources every year, predominantly oil and gas. Among non-fossil resources, uranium and gold received the highest investment for geological exploration, around a billion yuan annually.
Rare earths in China
China has the biggest reserve of rare earths in the world. Rare earths have received heightened attention from international industries due to their applicability in different industries, among them the production of LED monitors, batteries and illuminants. In order to avoid over-exploitation, Chinese government had set strict export limits for rare earths exports since 2009, which led to a significant decrease in rare earths exports from over 50,000 tons in 2009 to about 30,000 tons right after. However, export quotas were scrapped after China lost a World Trade Organization case brought by its trading partners over controls that alarmed global technology producers. In the last few years, the rare earths exports of China have increased to around 55,400 tons in 2024.
