Follow the stock market. Get the updates you need to make sense of the dynamic, global economy. China.org.cn brings you the economic highlights for this week .

1. Rare earth exports down in first five months of year

China's rare earth exports declined by 8.8 percent year-on-year in the first five months of this year.

Chinese government efforts to tighten control over trade in strategic rare-earth metals appear to be making a difference. China's exports of rare earths in the first five months of the year dropped 8.8 percent from a year earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing customs data supplied by Hong Kong-based Economic Information & Agency. Exports of the metals fell to 23,742 metric tons during the period from January to May. The value of January-May exports more than tripled to $1.6 billion, however, as prices of rare earths soared on fears of Beijing's crackdown on exports.