BEIJING - China will carefully study the request of the European Union, the United States and Japan asking the World Trade Organization to form a panel to resolve a dispute over rare earth "export restrictions," a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Friday.

"We have received the request from the US, EU and Japan, and will properly handle the issue according to WTO dispute settlement procedures," Shen Danyang, the spokesman, said in a statement on the MOC website.

In light of the rare earth issue, Shen said, China has reiterated many times that the country's policy on rare earths is aimed at protecting environmental resources and achieving sustainable development in the industry.

"We have no intention of protecting our domestic industry through means that will distort foreign trade," he said in the statement, stressing that China has always honored WTO rules and actively fulfilled its commitment to the WTO.