Türkiye & China to Cooperate on Rare Earth Elements and Mining

Turkey and China signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to cooperate in the fields of rare earth elements and mining, with officials citing natural resources as a major potential for greater cooperation between the two countries, Turkish media reported.

The agreement, signed by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Chinese Natural Resources Minister Wang Guanghua, aims to boost cooperation between the two countries in mining and natural resources.

“Our goal is to advance cooperation between our two countries in all areas of mining, especially in critical minerals. We hope that this agreement will soon lead to concrete projects,” he said.

He arrived in China on Tuesday for talks on nuclear cooperation and mining.

Bayraktar highlighted the growing demand for rare earth elements during the energy transition, noting that their importance is expected to grow significantly as global electricity consumption increases.

During his meeting with the king, Bayraktar stressed the high level of energy cooperation with China, noting that many Chinese companies have invested in Turkey and that high-level discussions over the past year have opened a new chapter in mining cooperation.

“We believe this memorandum of understanding will represent an important turning point as a legal framework that will further strengthen mining cooperation between the two countries,” Bayraktar said.

"We invite Chinese companies to invest in our country, explore and extract resources and bring them into our economy," he said, stressing the importance of adding value to these minerals for sustainable development.

Wang Guanghua echoed Bayraktar's views, saying the two countries had great potential for cooperation in the mining sector and that China was committed to developing a "mutually beneficial and win-win" partnership in this area.

Separately, Bayraktar was speaking at an international mining conference in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, highlighting the importance of critical minerals in the global energy transition.

Bayraktar stressed the importance of making critical minerals affordable and accessible, and underscored the need for strong international and regional cooperation to ensure a successful energy transition and for coherent and smart policies in this area.

Unfortunately, the current supply and investment plans for many key minerals are insufficient to meet the rapid growth of solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles.

From this perspective, strong international and regional cooperation in this field is becoming increasingly important. ”On the sidelines of the conference, Bayraktar also met with ministers from Zimbabwe, Congo and Tajikistan to discuss the possibility of cooperation in mining.

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