Exploration and Development Status of World Helium Resources and Its Implications for China

Helium is an indispensable and rare strategic resource for the development of the military industry and high-tech industry. However, the global distribution of helium resources is extremely uneven, the contradiction between supply and demand is prominent, and supply security has received continuous attention. In particular, China's helium supply has been dependent on imports for a long time, the resource investigation and evaluation and the research and development of helium extraction and utilization technologies started late, and the resource security situation is grim. In this paper, the progress of helium exploration and purification technology in the world are combed and the current situation of helium exploration and development in China are summarized by literature and market research. According to the overall demand of helium resources in China, the basic goals and suggestions for helium exploration and utilization at the end of the "14th Five-year Plan" period are put forward. The results show that the global helium reserves have increased in recent years and the annual production is basically stable. China's helium purification and utilization technology and capacity construction are developing rapidly, especially the rapid development of extraction and utilization of low-grade helium resources such as LNG-BOG helium extraction, and the gradual strengthening of helium support capacity. It is recommended to further strengthen the investigation and evaluation of helium resources and the construction of helium production capacity in accordance with the idea of "using discovered resources, finding new resources, conducting trade cooperation and establishing helium reserves", so as to realize the security of helium resources in stages.