BEIJING: China’s latest step to tighten export controls on rare earths and related items will bolster global supply-chain security and ensure trade compliance, rather than curb exports, government officials and analysts said on Sunday.
Against a backdrop of global instability and frequent conflicts, they noted the important military applications of medium and heavy rare earths and related materials. As a responsible major country, China applies export controls in accordance with the law to uphold peace and stability and support nonproliferation.
China on Thursday imposed export control measures on technologies related to rare earths, with immediate effect. It also issued new notices the same day implementing export controls on items linked to superhard materials, rare earth equipment and materials, and batteries.
In a follow-up statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Commerce defended the country’s export control measures on rare earths and related items as legitimate, while urging the United States to manage differences properly through dialogue based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation.
A ministry spokesperson said that China’s export controls are not export bans and that licenses will be granted for eligible applications.
“China stands ready to work with international partners to strengthen dialogue and exchanges on export control to better safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains,” the spokesperson said.
Echoing the call for continued dialogue, Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said the chamber will work with the country to maintain communication with trade partners on the issue and continue facilitating rare earth exports to European companies.
China’s cumulative rare earth exports reached 44,355 metric tons in the first eight months of 2025, up 14.5 percent year-on-year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
China is the world’s key processor of rare earths and a major supplier of advanced graphite. That position gives it both the responsibility and the incentive to keep export flows compliant, said Ding Rijia, a professor of economics at the China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing.
Similar views were expressed by Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
