China to Promote Mergers of Rare Earth Firms

BEIJING, Sep. 10 -- China planned to speed up the consolidation of rare earth businesses and merge 90 enterprises into 20 by 2015, China Business News reported Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Rare earth industry was first involved in a plan for promoting M&As by the government on Sept 6. Other sectors comprised automobiles, steel, cement, machinery, and aluminum, Xinhua said.

China hopes to improve the concentration of the rare earth industry and develop an industrial pattern led by several big businesses via merging and restructuring, said China Business News.