Foreign media: China tightens rare earth control, introduces new interim regulations covering 407 product categories

Last Friday, China announced new temporary measures to strengthen control over the mining and processing of rare earths, expanding state regulation of materials crucial for electric vehicles, smartphones, and defense applications.

Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requires enterprises operating in the rare earth sector to obtain government approval and accurately report production and processing volumes.

Violators will face legal penalties and may have their quotas reduced, although specific production and export quotas have not been disclosed.

The new regulations apply to both domestically mined rare earths and those imported to China for refining.

China supplies nearly 90% of the world's refined rare earths, despite mining only about 70% of global production and holding nearly half of the world's known reserves.

In 2024, 70% of the rare earths used in the United States came from China, highlighting its dependence, despite efforts by the Trump administration to diversify supply.

The new measures cover products such as wind turbines, mobile cranes, heavy equipment, railcars, furniture, compressors, and pumps.

These regulations also impose stricter environmental standards on rare earth mining and processing activities.