Research On The Evolution Of Global Strategic Rare Mineral Resources Trade Pattern And China’s Status

Strategic mineral resources are of great significance to a country’s economic development,national defense and security,and the development of strategic emerging technologies.Key mineral resources are necessary for the implementation of important strategies in China;At the critical moment of achieving the "first centenary" goal and marching towards the "second centenary" goal,China’s demand for strategic mineral resources will increase greatly,and rare minerals are an important part of China’s strategic mineral resources.At present,some rare mineral resources in China have problems such as large gap between supply and demand,heavy dependence on imports and resource security.In the face of unprecedented changes in the world in a century,it is urgent to improve the global optimal allocation capacity of China’s strategic rare mineral resources.Taking "rare mineral trade pattern" as the perspective and "complex network theory" as the theoretical fulcrum,this thesis analyzes the core proposition of "strategic rare mineral resources trade pattern",and systematically studies the global strategic rare mineral resources trade pattern and China’s status.Based on the complex network theory,this thesis selects the main trading mineral products of five rare mineral resources,namely lithium carbonate,strontium carbonate,beryllium ore,niobium-tantalum-vanadium ore and zirconium ore,and uses UCINET software to establish directed weighted and undirected weighted trade networks of rare mineral resources,and uses Gephi software to visually analyze the global complex network.From the perspectives of network overall and node characteristics,the topological characteristics of rare mineral trading network were analyzed by using indicators such as network density,average path length and clustering coefficient,and the importance of nodes was investigated through degree centrality index,proximity centrality index and intermediary centrality index.Then,the trade network was probed by the community,and the internal characteristics and external characteristics of the community were analyzed to explore the modular properties of strategic rare mineral resources.Through the network model QAP analysis method,the correlation and regression analysis of the influencing factors of the global trade network of rare mineral resources:economic scale,geographical distance,common language,patented technology and trade agreement were carried out,and the influence of the above indicators on the trade network of rare mineral resources was explored.Then,from the perspective of China,the trade relations,trade volume and main trading objects of China in the global trade network of five rare minerals from 2012 to 2021 were compared and discussed,and their intermediary characteristics were analyzed.Finally,based on the above research,according to the current situation of rare minerals in China,China’s countermeasures to cope with the evolution of the global strategic rare mineral resources trade pattern are proposed.This thesis concludes that(1)by measuring the network density,clustering coefficient and average path length of the rare mineral trade network,it is found that the rare mineral trade network is relatively dense overall,and the ties between the participating countries are relatively close,and there is a agglomeration effect;Among them,the lithium carbonate trading network is the closest,followed by the beryllium ore trading network,and the niobium-tantalum vanadium ore trading network is relatively sparse;(2)The degree of community differentiation between different rare mineral products trading networks is different,with niobium-tantalumvanadium ore trading network having the highest degree of community differentiation and lithium carbonate trading network having the highest degree of globalization;The zirconium ore trade network is similar to the strontium carbonate trade network,the number of associations is basically unchanged,the main trading participating countries are relatively stable,the differentiation of associations is more significant,and the phenomenon of huddling is more obvious in general.The intra-community trade network is dominated by a small number of central countries,with the participation of the remaining participating countries;(3)The rare mineral trade network is affected by economic distance,geographical distance,common language and number of patents,but different rare metals are affected by the above factors to different degrees,zirconium ore trade network is mainly affected by common language and geographical distance,strontium carbonate trade network is mainly affected by geographical distance and number of patents,beryllium ore trading network is affected by economic distance,geographical distance and number of patents;(4)China has a greater say in the trading network of zirconium,strontium carbonate and niobium-tantalum vanadium ore,and its control over these three rare mineral resources ranks among the top 3 in the world,second only to the United States,similar to Germany,but at the same time there is a risk of greater import dependence;In the global trading network of beryllium ore,China is the largest importer,and the import sources are very concentrated,and there are greater trade security risks.