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BEIJING, Nov 1 (Reuters) - China's rare earth export quotas for 2011 will not be cut "significantly" from recent levels, a commerce official said on Monday, adding to Beijing's efforts to soothe foreign companies and governments worried about supply.
A Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Chen Jian, made the comments at a news conference following weeks of international jitters about whether China could use its hold on 97 percent of global rare earths production to sharply curtail exports of the metals, which are used for many high-tech applications.
Chen's comment came after Vietnam and Japan, a major consumer of rare earths from China, agreed at an Asian regional meeting in Hanoi on Sunday to partner on mining the minerals in Vietnam. [ID:nSGE69U00S]
Japan and other countries, including the United States, have said they are seeking to diversify their access to rare earth supplies away from China, following indications that Chinese exports have been disrupted or blocked.
Beijing has repeatedly said it is within its rights to control exports and its foreign customers should not be alarmed.
"I don't think there will be a big cut in export quotas," Chen said, when asked whether China would slash rare earth exports next year.
"China has a management system, but China has no embargoes", he said. "But that does not mean you can buy freely, there will be a quota system -- the quota system is a way of management." (Reporting by Zhou Xin; Writing by Chris Buckley and Martin Martina; Editing by Ken Wills and Jacqueline Wong)