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CHONGQING — China on Thursday announced the merger of three state-owned rare earth miners into a company that will control nearly 70% of the country’s output of key metals.

The new entity, China Rare Earth Group, brings together the rare-earth operations of Aluminum Corp. of China, China Minmetals and Ganzhou Rare Earth Group. The last is under the government of the Jiangxi Province city of Ganzhou, an area rich in these metals.

Beijing is tightening its grip on the country’s supply chain for rare earths, which are essential for a wide range of high-tech products, in preparation for prolonged tensions with the U.S. The news follows the announcement of a strategic partnership between China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech and China Rare Earth Holdings.

Chinese media reporting on the merger plans have called the combined company an “aircraft carrier” in reference to its sheer scale. It will hold almost 70% of China’s production quota for medium and heavy rare earths, and nearly 40% for rare earths as a whole including light elements, according to information released by Beijing.

Read more at: China consolidates 3 rare earth miners into ‘aircraft carrier’ – Nikkei Asia