The new changes, which will take effect on July 30, were confirmed yesterday, a day after encouraging news from Osaka about a possible resumption of Sino-US talks.
The move is expected to encourage foreign firms to develop antimony resources in China. Antimony stocks in the country are falling, especially in the largest manufacturing region of Hunan province.
There are 199 explored antimony deposits in China, the reserves of which amount to 2.68 million tons in 19 provinces.
Beijing will maintain barriers to foreign investment in the tungsten exploration, extraction and processing sector, but will allow foreign investors to pursue higher value-added materials, including high-temperature tungsten wires and other highly processed products.
Restrictions on the exploration and production of molybdenum, which accounts for about 30-40% of world production in China, will be lifted.
China will continue to restrict the mining of rare earths by six large state-controlled companies, but will encourage foreign investment in high-tech products that use rare earths as raw materials.
In addition, China wants to attract foreign investment in the production of industrial robots, intelligent vehicles that use rare earths and battery metals in production, including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese.
