Taiwanese media outlet Liberty Times published an article on the 6th, stating that China's rare earth industry has a 'fatal weakness.'

The article reported, 'While China has long established a dominant position in rare earth mining, refining, and export, the latest research by Chinese researchers shows that the country's rare earth industry harbors a fatal weakness.'

Furthermore, the article mentioned, citing a report by the Hong Kong English-language newspaper South China Morning Post, that a study recently published in the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is attracting attention. The same research by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China stated that 'key patents supporting high-performance materials using rare earths are still primarily held by Japan and the United States,' and concluded that 'China is not in a leading position in terms of mastering critical core technologies in some fields.'

The article pointed out that 'the compounds and components of downstream products manufactured from these processed rare earths include permanent magnets, catalysts, luminous materials, and polishing materials. These account for over 80% of global rare earth-related patents and represent the most commercially valuable areas in the industry.'

Among these, regarding permanent magnets, it was explained that 'Japan maintains a technological advantage with numerous key patents.' The research reported that it was evaluated that 'China only surpasses competitors in some alloy-related technologies, and still lags behind Japan and the United States in permanent magnet materials, metal powder processing, cobalt-based alloys, sintering, and rotor core technologies.'

Furthermore, it stated that 'this gap is even more pronounced in the field of catalyst materials, where the United States holds an advantage in almost all core technologies. Luminous materials are similar; the United States maintains an advantage in numerous key technologies, while China's advantage is limited to some silicon-containing materials. In the field of polishing materials as well, the United States holds the top position in many major manufacturing processes. While China maintains competitiveness in some technologies, it still lags in polishing compounds, abrasives, rare earth compounds, and several production processes essential for semiconductors and precision manufacturing.'

The article mentioned that 'this indicates that an advantage in raw materials does not necessarily translate into an advantage in technologies for producing high value-added products.' The research reportedly pointed out that the reasons for this gap are that 'while China supplies over 60% of the world's rare earth products, its international patent strategy remains inadequate, and the proportion of high-value patents is relatively low.'

The research reportedly cited another factor as 'weak collaboration' among universities, industry, and intellectual property management. It also pointed out that 'universities typically prioritize publishing papers and research projects, while companies sometimes delay the development of patent strategies due to a lack of collaboration between their R&D and intellectual property departments.' Furthermore, it was reported that another challenge cited is that the current incentive system does not sufficiently support the development and protection of high-value patents.