As of the end of 2020, 173 types of minerals have been discovered in the country.

　　According to the 2021 China International Mining Conference, by the end of 2020, China had discovered 173 types of minerals, including 13 types of energy minerals, 59 types of metal minerals, 95 types of non-metal minerals, and 6 types of water and gas minerals.

　　The "China Mineral Resources Report 2021" compiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources shows that over the past decade of implementing the mineral exploration breakthrough strategy (2011-2020), China has formed a number of important strategic continuation areas for mineral resources.

　　What is the proportion of domestic mineral reserves in the world? The global distribution of mineral resources is extremely uneven, and this unevenness shapes the current distribution pattern of global mineral resources, which also affects today's world economic pattern and geopolitical landscape.

　　According to public information, China's total mineral resources rank sixth in the world, with an estimated value of $36 trillion in natural resources, most of which are coal and rare earths. The content of non-ferrous metals is rich, with tungsten, antimony, tin, mercury, molybdenum, zinc, copper, bismuth, vanadium, titanium, and lithium also ranking among the top in the world. Of course, there is a significant gap compared to Russia and the United States. Russia has the largest reserves of minerals and energy resources in the world, with major deposits including coal, oil, natural gas, gold, timber, diamonds, rare earths, and iron. Russia is the largest producer of oil and natural gas, possessing the world's largest forest reserves and the second-largest rare earth reserves. More than 85% of Russia's total resource reserves are distributed in the Asian part of some European countries, especially Eastern European countries that heavily rely on Russian energy. The copper ore reserves in the United States are 91 million tons, accounting for 14.2% of the world's total copper ore reserves, ranking second in the world. The United States ranks 12th in oil reserves, 5th in natural gas reserves, and 1st in coal reserves. Freshwater resources are 30.5 trillion cubic meters, ranking third in the world. Gold reserves rank 5th.

　　China has a forest area of 186 million acres, ranking 8th in the world. The forest stock volume is 9.1 billion cubic meters, ranking 5th in the world, and coal reserves rank 3rd in the world. Freshwater resources are 28 trillion cubic meters, ranking 6th in the world. Oil reserves rank 14th in the world. Gold resources rank 9th, and natural gas ranks 12th. Rare earth reserves rank first in the world.

　　China's rare earth resources account for over 90% of the world's market supply, with China's rare earth reserves at their peak accounting for 72% of the world, but after decades of frantic mining, the current proportion is around 23%. The U.S., Russia, and some European countries all import rare earths from China. Japan is the largest buyer of rare earths, having long hoarded Chinese rare earths in excess. Compared to the skyrocketing prices of oil and natural gas in recent years, the price of rare earths is worth our deep consideration. Of course, the most precious heavy rare earths have always been strictly controlled.

　　China's iron ore has a low grade and is mostly low-grade ore, requiring significant imports of iron ore from countries such as Australia, Brazil, India, and North Korea each year.

　　The report shows that in oil and gas exploration, the newly proven geological reserves of oil and natural gas over the past decade are 1.01 billion tons and 6.85 trillion cubic meters, respectively, accounting for about 25% and 45% of the total proven amount since the founding of New China. Significant progress has been made in shale gas exploration and development, with the annual output of the southern Sichuan gas field reaching 11.7 billion cubic meters and the annual output of the Fuling gas field reaching 6.7 billion cubic meters.