BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday that it will strengthen controls over the full supply chains of strategic minerals exports as part of efforts to tighten its dominant grip on materials it deems crucial to its national interest.
China, the world’s largest supplier of dozens of strategic minerals, began imposing restrictions in 2023 on exports of several minerals vital to sectors ranging from chipmaking and energy transition to defence.
“Since the export control of strategic minerals has much to do with national security, strengthening the control of the whole export chain is the key,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement.
The government held a meeting in the city of Changsha on Monday, bringing together representatives from customs, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the public security ministry, and the state security ministry, among others, the statement said.
Those entities are required to adhere to a principle of “prevention first” to track the flow of strategic minerals and strictly prevent illegal outflows, it added.
This comes after Beijing launched a special campaign last week to crack down on the smuggling of strategic minerals including gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and some rare earths.
Monday’s announcement came shortly after the United States and China said they had agreed a deal to slash tariffs as they seek to end a trade war that has disrupted the global economy and set financial markets on edge.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Joe Bavier)
