Rare earth materials, as the “vitamins” of modern industry, play an irreplaceable role in the high-tech field. China is a major country in rare earth resources worldwide, occupying a dominant position in resource extraction, production, and export. However, China is not in a leading position in mastering key core technologies in certain fields. This study constructs a key core technology and international gap research framework for identifying representative fields of rare earth functional materials based on patent data from the perspective of market competition, and identifies the technological mastery and competitive landscape of each country in specific fields. Research has found that high-end rare earth functional materials are mainly concentrated in the fields of rare earth permanent magnet materials, catalytic materials, luminescent materials, and polishing materials, and the key core technologies in these fields are overall lagging behind Japan and the United States. Therefore, China should focus on areas with technological gaps, establish special research and development plans, strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, and research, promote the implementation of technology transformation, optimize the division of labor in the industrial chain, and at the same time strengthen patent protection awareness from multiple aspects, improve the patent protection system, and achieve China’s upgrading from a rare earth resource powerhouse to a technology powerhouse.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.