Finance & economics | Rare earths
Digging in
China restricts exports of some obscure but important commodities
|Hong kong
BEHIND the rise of resource-poor countries like Japan, South Korea and China into industrial giants has been the readiness of other countries to sell them critical commodities, albeit sometimes at excruciating cost. An unfolding collision around a group of elements known as “rare earths” is seen by some as a test of China's willingness to reciprocate.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "Digging in"
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