Shanghai, 20 October 2010

A commerce ministry official denied a report that China would cut export quotas for rare earth metals by 30 percent next year, the China Business News said on Wednesday.

A day earlier, an unnamed commerce ministry official told the China Daily that Beijing would reduce the quotas to protect the country's rare earth resources and avoid depletion of the crucial manufacturing minerals.

The China Business Daily, also citing an unnamed Ministry of Commerce official, said that report was groundless and that no such measures would be implemented.

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