China Revamps Rules To Protect Its Rare Earths Industry: Tightens Control On Mining, Processing Of Critical Minerals

(MENAFN- Live Mint) China recently decided to take new interim measures to protect its rare earths industry. In this regard, interim measures for the control and management of its rare earths mining, smelting and separation activities were released on Friday, August 23, ABC news reported.

The world's dominant supplier of the critical minerals released a list of rules applicable to both rare earths originating in the country and those that are sent to China for refining.

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The regulations published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology require companies to comply with the following regulations

• Companies dealing with minerals key to electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence sectors must possess government approval for rare earths.
• Companies are required to comply with the alotted quotas for various minerals.
• They are also required to accurately report the amount of rare earths products being handled.
• Penalties will be imposed on violators who will have to face the consequences of their quotas for rare earths getting reduced.

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Earlier this year, US tightened controls on its access to advanced computing semiconductors. Since then, China started tightening restrictions on exports of 17 rare earth elements, including germanium, gallium and titanium.

In April, China announced permitting requirements for seven more rare earths after US President Donald Trump's tariff raft. Notably, the second-most populous country of the world commands control over nearly half of the world's known reserves of rare earths. However, significant amounts of rare earths is imported from Myanmar for processing and export.

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As advanced technology manufacturers in the US and elsewhere began to fear the impact of a fall in supply of vital materials needed for production which prompted China-US trade talks.

Recently, the US rolled back some export restrictions, this easing of rules allowed US firms to increase chip sales in China. In response, China announced in June that it was speeding up approvals of rare earths exports. China dominates rare earths processing as it supplies nearly 90% of the world's rare earths. It mines about 70% of such minerals.

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