|
China Raw Materials
China is well endowed with most of the important industrial
ores, fuels, and other minerals. Only a few raw materials are not
present in deposits large enough for domestic needs. Supplies of
iron and coking coal, although of poor quality, are adequate. By
the early to mid-1980s, China was a significant exporter of rare
metals necessary for the aerospace and electronics industries.
Nonetheless, China imported materials such as steel, pig iron,
copper, and aluminum because of a large domestic demand and an
inadequate transportation infrastructure--
(see Iron Ore;
Other Minerals
, this ch.).
Data as of July 1987
|
