China defends rare earth quotas, price rises

BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) - China controls its rare earth exports to protect its environment and ensure smooth industry operations, the Chinese industry ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry also told reporters at a briefing that China does not intend to manipulate the prices of rare earths and that recent price increases in the raw material were reasonable, especially compared with the long-term price trends in other commodities such as oil.

(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Ken Wills)