Society

China's total grain harvest in 2010 reached 546.41 million metric tons, the seventh consecutive annual record and an increase of 2.9% from last year's crop, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. Last year's grain harvest was up 0.4% from 2008.

The strong harvest is expected to relieve upward pressure on prices from concerns of shortages related to weather problems and global shortfalls. This year's summer grain harvest, which normally accounts for a third of the total, dipped 0.3%, aggravating concerns about full-year supply. But few signs of problems emerged during the autumn grain season, and government officials in recent weeks had widely signaled increased confidence.

China will shift to a "prudent" monetary policy next year, the ruling Communist Party decided on Friday, a move that formalizes the government's change in priorities away from driving all-out economic growth toward combating inflation.

The change in the official language used to describe the government's economic policy, from the current "moderately loose," solidifies a transition that has taken place over the last several months. At a time when the U.S. and other major economies are still struggling to propel economic growth, China has increasingly focused on containing inflation and asset-price bubbles, and phased out some of the supportive policies that prevailed during the global financial crisis and its aftermath.

An explosion caused by illegally stored chemicals has killed seven people and injured 37 at an Internet cafe in southwest China, state media and the government said Sunday.

The blast occurred late Saturday in a shop next to the cafe, located under a bridge, the Kaili city government in Guizhou province said in a statement. The official Xinhua News Agency said nine of those hurt were seriously injured.

Six people were killed on the spot and one woman died of extensive burns Sunday after treatment at a hospital failed, Xinhua said. Investigators are identifying the bodies, which included one child, the report said.

Rare earth (RE) metals find application in a massive range of devices including wind turbines, hybrid and electric cars, LCDs, fuel cells, nuclear reactors and lasers. China controls some 97% of the world supply of REs, and in July announced a 72% reduction in exports of REs for the second half of 2010, compared with the previous year. It is predicted that in 2012, Chinese domestic consumption of REs will match domestic production, and this year will see a peak in availability and a demand-supply gap emerging on the world markets.

REs are not lacking in the earth’s crust, for example cerium ranks as the 25th most abundant element at 68 parts per million, in fact similar in concentration to copper. There are however few economically concentrated ores of the metals and their very similar chemical properties make the separation and isolation of individual REs in pure form difficult and expensive.