China, Malaysia in talks for rare earths refinery project

China and Malaysia are in early talks for a project to process rare earths, with sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional likely to partner with a Chinese state-owned firm to build a refinery in the Southeast Asian nation, people familiar with the matter said, Report informs via Reuters.

If the joint venture takes shape, it would represent a significant policy departure for China, the world's top supplier and refiner of rare earths, which has banned export of its processing technology to protect its dominance of the industry.

Beijing is ready to swap its technology for access to Malaysia's untapped rare earths reserves, seeking to limit competition from Australian rival Lynas Rare Earths, which has a processing plant in the central state of Pahang, said two sources in Malaysia with knowledge of the talks.