Security assessment of overseas supply of China's minor metals

Minor metals are the resources base for the development of the ten key areas of “Made in China 2025” and the implementation of the “manufacturing power strategy”.Based on the analysis of the external dependence, this paper also calculates and analyses the channel dependence and regional concentration of minor metals with trade volume and trade value perspective respectively.The results show that the overall overseas supply situation of minor metals in China is not optimistic, among them, minor metals such as lanthanum, cerium, zirconium, tin and cobalt have high external dependence; the dependence on the South China Sea Corridor is more than 85%; the minor metals' import relies heavily on Africa, Oceania and Southeast Asia.It is suggested to strengthen the layout of overseas investment in China's shortage of minor metals; to improve the transport safety of South China Sea corridor through comprehensive means such as diplomacy and military affairs; to actively participate in global governance, promote global mineral resources development, and to maintain a fair and free trading system, so as to ensure the safety of overseas supply of China's minor metals.