China rare earth minerals have long underpinned the country’s dominance in critical materials, and officials and analysts say monazite sits at the center of that strategy. In Inner Mongolia’s industrial hub of Baotou, a 10-square-kilometer artificial lake known as the Weikuang, or Baogang Tailings Dam, has for decades collected waste from iron, steel, and rare-earths processing. The site is widely described by experts as severely polluted, with residues including radioactive thorium from monazite processing.
Built in the late 1950s, the tailings lake reflects an earlier era of lax environmental controls. China has since tightened rules on mining and minerals processing, and it does not allow development of stand-alone monazite mines. Authorities cite environmental and radiological risks as key reasons for the prohibition.
Monazite remains crucial because it is a major source of several less common but essential rare-earth elements, including dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, and erbium. China mines and processes large volumes of monazite and also brings in significant quantities from overseas for processing, according to industry specialists.
Most domestic monazite is tied to the Bayan Obo complex, about 150 kilometers north of Baotou in Inner Mongolia. Bayan Obo is primarily an iron-ore operation, yet it hosts the world’s largest known rare-earth deposit. It accounts for nearly half of global rare-earth ore output in a typical year. The bulk of its rare-earth ore is bastnaesite. Because bastnaesite is mined there, it is also legal to recover monazite at the site.
Industry data indicate that ore from Bayan Obo supported production of about 170,000 tonnes of rare-earth metal last year, according to David Merriman of Project Blue. Roughly 30 to 40 percent of the rare-earth ore mined at Bayan Obo is monazite, a volume that alone would make China the top processor of monazite for rare-earth extraction.
China rare earth minerals imports of monazite surpass 70,000 tonnes
A fuller picture of China’s monazite position emerges from import flows. Last year, monazite imports exceeded 70,000 tonnes, said Singapore-based minerals and metals consultant Thomas Kruemmer. Shipping is constrained by safety rules. Concentrated monazite is classified as Class 7 dangerous cargo under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. According to Kruemmer, only four Chinese ports can receive it.
Some monazite imports are expected to move through a joint venture between China National Nuclear Corp. and Shenghe Resources, both partly state owned. However, analysts note that substantial volumes enter indirectly via heavy mineral sands, which can contain roughly 2 to 3 percent monazite by weight and are not subject to the same import controls as concentrated monazite. Companies import these sands, separate valuable concentrates such as monazite, and then process the monazite to recover rare-earths.
Beijing has intensified efforts to secure rare-earth feedstocks overseas. Kruemmer cites the need to replace recent supply losses as one driver. In 2025, the U.S. government invested 400 million dollars in MP Materials, operator of the Mountain Pass mine and processing plant in California. That investment effectively ended long-running contracts under which MP Materials sold tens of thousands of tonnes of rare-earth concentrate annually to a Shenghe Resources affiliate.
Some Western observers argue there is also a strategic element in China’s push to acquire heavy mineral sands and other rare-earth assets abroad. By obtaining rights to deposits and projects, Chinese entities can make them unavailable to rival developers, they say.
Merriman notes that perspectives vary by country. Washington recently issued a conditional loan commitment of up to 725 million dollars to U.S. monazite processor Energy Fuels, which has been actively lining up monazite supplies in Australia, Brazil, and Madagascar. From a Chinese vantage point, those moves likely appear strategic as well.
For now, analysts say China continues to pursue its long-standing approach of securing resources, expanding processing capacity, and leveraging experience built over decades. “China’s playing its game,” Merriman said.