China willing to meet other countries' reasonable demand for rare earths

China would give priority to domestic demand for rare earths, but is willing to meet other countries' reasonable demand for resources, state media quoted a senior official from China's state planner as saying on Tuesday.

Rising tensions between the United States and China have sparked concerns that Beijing could use its dominant position as a supplier of rare earths for leverage in the trade war between the two global economic powers. When asked whether China would restrict rare-earth exports to the United States as a countermeasure, the official from the National Development and Reform Commission did not give a direct answer, according to the report by the official Xinhua news agency.