BEIJING: China is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries and regions to jointly maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Tuesday, when responding to a media question about rare-earth exports.
Mao made the remarks when asked whether media reports claiming that China has lifted restrictions on rare-earth exports to India during a meeting with the Indian side are accurate, and whether this refers to all export licenses or India has been granted an exemption.
In response, Mao said that she was not aware of the specific media reports the reporter mentioned. “What I can tell you is that we are willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries and regions to jointly maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains,” the spokesperson said.
China has been consistent in its stance on the issue related to rare-earth exports.
On July 24, in response to a question from the New York Times claiming that the EU had expressed concern that China was restricting exports of rare metals and rare-earth magnets, Guo Jiakun, also a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said that China’s policy on rare earths is in line with international practice.
“We stand ready to work with relevant countries and regions to continue enhancing dialogue and cooperation on export controls and jointly keep global industrial and supply chains stable, safe and secure,” Guo said.
On June 7, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that rare earth-related items have dual-use characteristics for both military and civilian purposes, and implementing export controls on them is in line with international practices. China implements export controls on rare earth-related items in accordance with the law, which aims to better safeguard national security and interests, fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, and reflect its consistent position of upholding world peace and regional stability.
“We have also noted that with the development of industries such as robotics and new-energy vehicles, the demand for medium and heavy rare earths in civilian applications is continuously growing in various countries. As a responsible major country, China fully considers the reasonable demands and concerns of other countries in civilian applications and reviews export license applications for rare earth-related items in accordance with laws and regulations,” said the MOFCOM spokesperson.
China has approved a certain number of compliant applications, and will continue to strengthen the approval process for compliant applications. China is willing to further enhance communication and dialogue on export controls with relevant countries to promote convenient and compliant trade, the spokesperson noted.
