Highlights

• Gansu Province issued a Three-Year Action Plan requiring:
  • 90% of large mines and 80% of medium mines to meet 'green mine' standards by 2028
  • Tax incentives, including resource tax exemptions for low-grade ore sales
• The plan mandates building 18 'intelligent green mines' with:
  • Digital monitoring and automation
  • Aim to strengthen China's cost position in critical minerals through state-backed industrial modernization
• Oversight includes:
  • Randomized inspections covering 10% of mines
  • Public disclosure
  • Positioning green mining as a subsidized pathway to faster permitting and higher supply reliability versus Western competitors

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Gansu Province in northwest China is moving to tighten and accelerate what it calls “green mining,” pairing environmental branding with industrial modernization and tax incentives—an approach that could matter for global critical-minerals competition.

Multi-Agency, Three-Year Plan

According to People’s Daily (via the China Rare Earth Industry Association), Gansu’s Department of Natural Resources and 16 other agencies jointly issued a Three-Year Action Plan to Improve the Quality and Efficiency of Green Mine Development. The plan aims to push the province’s mining sector toward “green, high-quality development,” a phrase that in China typically signals both regulatory compliance and state-backed upgrading, not simply environmental remediation.

Targets—‘Green Mine’ Standards

The targets are explicit. By the end of 2028, Gansu plans for 90% of licensed, operating large mines and 80% of medium-sized mines to meet China’s “green mine” standards, while encouraging smaller mines to participate voluntarily. The province also wants to build 18 “intelligent green mines” and drive a broader wave of informatization and automation retrofits—a clear nod to smart mining, digital monitoring, and productivity gains.

Policy support is not subtle. The plan emphasizes science and technology innovation, urging companies to raise R&D spending and develop “new productive forces” in mining—Beijing’s current slogan for tech-driven industrial competitiveness. It also includes tax preferences for eligible firms (including VAT- and resource-tax-related incentives). One notable detail: mines listed under the program that sell low-grade mineral products (excluding gold) can receive a resource tax exemption, potentially improving the economics of marginal ore and extending mine life—an important lever in commodity markets where “low grade” often determines viability.

Governance & Oversight

Oversight is designed to be both visible and scalable. Regulators will apply “double random, one public” inspections (randomized checks with public disclosure) covering at least 10% of mines, plus on-the-ground inspections every three years for sand-and-gravel operations. The plan also calls for upgrading management systems to enable end-to-end online process control.

Why this matters for the U.S. and allies: if “green mining” becomes a standardized, subsidized pathway to faster permitting, lower taxes, and higher automation, it can strengthen China’s cost position and supply reliability—especially relevant as Western markets try to build diversified, ESG-compliant critical mineral supply chains.

Disclaimer: This item is sourced from Chinese state-affiliated media (People’s Daily) and a state-linked industry association. Key claims and targets should be verified through independent sources before making investment or policy decisions.