If you own a smart phone or a flat-screen television, it may contain contraband rare earths from southern China.

We will have cooperation with other countries in the use of rare earths, because it is a non-renewable energy resource.

Though not truly rare [they are actually found all over the world and in relative abundance], these minerals are mined almost exclusively in China.

'We expect that rare earth market conditions could change quickly, and they remain an uncertainty for the foreseeable future, ' Grace said in the half-yearly report last month.

The minerals are so-called rare earths, which are used in products like wind turbines and hybrid cars.