Driven by multiple factors including constrained global supply, stricter Chinese export controls, and diversified downstream demand, the rare earth sector has recently seen a notable recovery, attracting significant attention from market funds using related investment tools.
Exchange and Wind data show that since August, the Rare Earth ETF Huatai-PineBridge (516780) has accumulated net capital inflows of 199 million yuan, with a 24% increase in fund size. Its latest share and size stand at 2.478 billion shares and 2.216 billion yuan, respectively, signaling capital deployment and rising sector momentum. From the perspective of the global rare earth industry competitive landscape, China's rare earth sector holds a leading position, boasting abundant resource reserves, advanced processing technology, and a complete industrial chain. China is also a major consumer of rare earths, with domestic products widely used in new energy vehicles, wind power, consumer electronics, humanoid robots, and military applications. As the "golden September and silver October" peak consumption season approaches, demand-side prosperity in China's rare earth industry is expected to rise.
Meanwhile, policy support is poised to further reshape the industry's development structure. Since the implementation of the "Mineral Resources Law Implementation Regulations" on June 15, rare earths have been officially included in the list of 36 types of national strategic mineral catalogs, with all categories subject to strict export license controls. Against the backdrop of tightening export controls and the expansion of global emerging industries driving rare earth consumption growth, rare earths exhibit a significant overseas premium, potentially leading to a systemic value reassessment of China's domestic rare earth industry chain.
Latest data from the General Administration of Customs directly reflects changes in the industry's supply-demand dynamics. In July, China's rare earth export volume was 4,223.5 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 29.54% and a month-on-month decline of 17.26%, marking the lowest single-month level since March. Cumulative exports from January to July fell by 10% year-on-year. In stark contrast to the export volume, the average export price of rare earths in July surged by 103.14% year-on-year. The export structure is shifting toward high-value medium and heavy rare earths. As global rare earth supply continues to remain tight, overseas buyers are willing to pay a premium for scarce rare earth raw materials.
The Rare Earth ETF Huatai-PineBridge (516780) closely tracks the CSI Rare Earth Industry Index, which selects samples from listed companies involved in rare earth mining, processing, trading, and application businesses to reflect the overall performance of rare earth industry listed companies. Its top five constituent stocks are Northern Rare Earth, Baoshan Iron and Steel, Aluminum Corporation of China, China Rare Earth Holdings, and GEM Co., Ltd, all leading competitive enterprises in the industry. Investors can utilize the Rare Earth ETF Huatai-PineBridge (516780) to capture opportunities from the dual drivers of upgraded strategic attributes in rare earth geopolitical games and tightening supply-demand dynamics, fostering value reassessment.
The manager of the Rare Earth ETF Huatai-PineBridge (516780) and its linked funds (Class A: 014331, Class C: 014332) is Huatai-PineBridge Fund, one of China's first ETF managers with over 19 years of deep experience in index investing. They have created index tools such as the CSI 300 ETF Huatai-PineBridge (510300) and the A500 ETF Huatai-PineBridge (563360), which offer transparent exposure, convenient trading, and low fees. As of June 30, 2026, the company's ETFs have accumulated over 180.6 billion yuan in profits for holders over the past two years, making it one of only three mutual fund companies in the A-share market to achieve cumulative profits exceeding 160 billion yuan during the same period.
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