Rare earth controls boost stability, security

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, said a government official and analysts on Sunday.

Against a backdrop of global turmoil and frequent conflicts, they noted the important military applications of medium and heavy rare earths and related items. As a responsible major country, China applies export controls in accordance with the law to uphold peace and stability and support nonproliferation.

China imposed export control measures on Thursday on technologies related to rare earths, effective immediately.

The country also issued new notices on the same day, implementing export control measures on items related to superhard materials, rare earth equipment and materials, and lithium 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 a legitimate action, while urging the United States to properly manage differences through dialogue, and based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation.

A ministry spokesperson said that China's export controls are not export bans, as licenses will be granted for eligible applications.

The commerce official said China stands ready to work with international partners to step up export control dialogue and exchanges to better safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.

Echoing the calls for continued dialogue, Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said the European chamber will work with China to maintain communication with trade partners on the issue and continue to facilitate 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, the latest data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

China is the key processor of rare earths and a major supplier of advanced graphite. That role gives it both the duty and the incentive to keep export flows compliant, said Ding Rijia, a professor of economics at 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. "Prior to China's implementation of the export control system, international trade in rare earth resources had long lacked effective management, and China's moves have, to a certain extent, reshaped the global trade landscape," he said.

"The export controls have indeed led to increased compliance pressure for some Western entities involved in the military domain, which could help reduce global military risks," Zhou said.

Rare earths consist of 17 elements that are widely used in high-tech products ranging from smartphones and flat-screen televisions to wind turbines and fighter jets.

After Chinese and US trade teams held talks in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain, the White House said on Friday that it would impose an additional 100 percent tariff on imports from China and introduce export controls on all critical US-made software starting in November.

Noting that the US has introduced a string of new restrictive measures targeting China, after China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, China's Ministry of Commerce said that, in just 20 days, the US' actions have severely harmed China's interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks.

"Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China. China's position on the trade war is consistent: We do not want it, but we are not afraid of it," said the ministry spokesperson.

Chen Wenling, former chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that the lack of a more "constructive" economic strategy beyond tariff threats and investment restrictions reflects a broader dilemma in Washington's policy toward Beijing.

"With limited options, the US has repeatedly turned to the same protectionist tools, despite their disruptive effects on the US itself and international trade norms at large," Chen said.

She also noted that the repeated US shifts on tariff and other restrictive policies, from escalation to temporary suspension and back to escalation, have made it difficult to establish the stable foundation necessary for a substantive long-term agreement between the world's two largest economies.

Lu Minglang, chairman of Ningbo Merryart Glow-Tech Co, a toy manufacturer based in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, said his US partners have repeatedly told him in recent months that "policies are unstable — we can't build inventory right now".

"We have been diverting resources from high-value research and development to handling tariff swings and logistics snags," said Lu, stressing that a healthier China-US trade relationship would unshackle both sides' companies and meaningfully accelerate cooperation.

The company's exports to the US exceeded 100 million yuan ($14 million) between January and August, increasing 20.43 percent year-on-year, according to Ningbo Customs.