Many rare metal and REE deposits have been found in the Altay orogenic belt, on the northern margin of the Tarim massif and in the Kunlun-Altun orogenic belt, constituting three very important rare metal-REE mineralization belts in western China. These deposits belong to various genetic types with complex ore-forming mechanism, and were formed in certain mineralization epochs. On the basis of a systematic sum-up of geologic and geochemical achievements and 40Ar-39Ar ages of potassium-rich minerals as well as whole-rock Rb-Sr dating results, the authors systematically analyzed the spatial distribution and mineralization epochs of rare metal-REE deposits in Xinjiang, northwestern China, and concluded that although the Hercynian rare metal-REE mineralizations in this area are very important, pre- and post-Hercynian (especially Indosinian and early Yanshanian) rare metal-REE mineralizations also have important theoretical and economic significance.