China’s National Development and Reform Commission has announced further restrictions on investment in tin and other metals. As of 31 October foreign investors are banned from exploring for or developing tungsten, molybdenum, tin or antimony, and from exploring for, developing or dressing rare earth mines. According to Reuters, the new regulations are in line with policies China has followed for the last few years. The country liberalized mining laws earlier this decade, but then tightened regulations to steer foreign capital away from the best deposits and towards mines that Chinese firms had difficulty developing.
A statement on the NRDC’s website this week said that foreign investment is also restricted in smelting copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, tin, antimony, and other base or minor metals, without detailing the restrictions. In January the NRDC had previously published a series of “admittance qualifications” governing investments in tin, tungsten and antimony smelting, all of which were considered to be strategic metals. These included various stipulations on minimum scale, energy consumption and environmental issues.
Meanwhile China’s Ministry of Land and Resources and Ministry of Finance have reportedly agreed on a new resource tax system, which is expected to be announced shortly. According to Antaike in Beijing, taxes on the production of a wide range of metals and minerals are expected to be raised in order to conserve resources and limit energy consumption and pollution.
