"China is likely to trim imports of rare earths from Myanmar starting next month, which an analyst said will help relieve oversupply in China. The country will also tighten its exports in the future because of the increasingly high environmental costs. China imported 26,000 tons of rare earths carbonate from Myanmar in 2018, accounting for 25 percent of total domestic demand, financial news site jrj.com.cn reported Wednesday, citing an industry study. Among the imports, heavy rare earths from Myanmar accounted for about one-third of China's consumption in 2018, the report said. Amid a crackdown on illegal mining, China strengthened efforts to reduce illegal rare-earth capacity and halted approval for new mines after the end of 2016. Due to a relative domestic shortage of heavy rare earths, China increased imports from Myanmar and became a net importer of rare earths for the first time in 2018, according to the report. China is the largest producer and exporter of rare earths in the world, but because of its relative shortage of heavy rare earths, it increased imports from its neighbor, said Lin Boqiang, dean of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University. An industry insider who preferred to be anonymous told the Global Times Wednesday that the price advantage was another factor driving China to import rare earths from the ASEAN country. It's possible that a cut in imports may be driven by concerns that illegally mined material was smuggled into Myanmar and then returned to China as imports from Myanmar..."