As resource-hungry China scours the world for crude oil and natural gas supplies, it has managed to corner the global market for a group of obscure metals used to make iPods, wind farms and electric cars.

China supplies at least 95% of the world's rare earths -- 17 chemical elements with hard-to-pronounce names such as praseodymium and yttrium -- essential for a wide range of high-tech devices and green technologies.

The nation has long recognized the value of these metals, with the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping noting the Middle East had oil but China had rare earths.

And, as the Organization for the Petroleum Exporting Countries does with oil, China is tightly controlling the supply of these vital natural resources.

"China's goal is to create jobs in China and create goods in China," Jack Lifton, a U.S.-based independent rare earths analyst. "We need to start producing these metals here [United States] as we did in the past. If we don't do that, China will be the only country manufacturing devices using rare earths by the year 2015."

A single mine in China's northern Inner Mongolia region produces half of the world's rare earths, with the rest coming from smaller mines in southern China as well as Russia, India and Brazil.

China keeps most of the minerals within its borders by restricting foreign shipments.

Authorities have been increasingly restricting exports in recent years as China seeks to prop up prices, ensure supply for its own needs and create jobs for millions of migrant workers by luring foreign companies to its shores.

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