Around 20,000 tonnes of rare earth metals, considered vital to modern and green technologies, were smuggled out of China last year, state media said Monday.
Faced with a rise in demand for the rare metals, many buyers are taking the risk of smuggling them out of the country, the China Business News (CBN) was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
Citing an anonymous government official, CBN said China exported 39,500 tonnes of rare earth in 2008, meaning that the trade in smuggled elements was around half the size of legitimate shipments.
China, the world's largest exporter of rare earth metals, is currently looking at plans to curb the illegal trade, according to Xinhua.
Rare earth metals are a group of 17 chemical elements that are key to modern and green technologies such as flat-screen televisions and wind and solar energy.
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