China is mulling over a national mineral resources reserve system to ensure economic security in the wake of rising global prices and blistering domestic demand, a senior government official said yesterday.

Wang Min, deputy minister of land and resources, said: "The main reason for setting up the reserve is to ensure stability and sustainability, and avoid economic upheavals due to mineral supply."

"We are considering granting certain exploitation rights for high-volume industrial minerals to a limited group of people so as to ensure long-term supply," he said.

"The plan also includes surveying for new mineral areas, which would add to the reserve," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing NPC.

Wang said setting up the system will need cooperation from several departments, and is not just about central government funding.

"The system will be complicated and integrated, and we are attaching great importance to it," Wang said

The details will be drawn up following further talks, he said.

In the past two years, the price of minerals on the global market has soared.

Last month, several of China's leading steel companies agreed to price increases of between 65 and 71 percent for iron ore, whose supply is controlled by several global mining giants.

In response, the Ministry of Land and Resources said last month it will increase efforts to tap domestic mineral resources to feed the huge appetite of the country's economic growth.