China launched the International Economic and Trade Cooperation Initiative on Green Mining and Minerals to build greener, more stable supply chains - and experts say Beijing still sets the rules. SHANGHAI: It was late 2024 when one of the world’s most important sources of heavy rare earths fell into turmoil. In Myanmar’s northern war-torn Kachin state, where Chinese-linked operators and a junta-allied militia had long overseen mining of ionic clay ores, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)