China hints at holding talks with India over restrictions on export of rare earth materials

13 Jun 2025 Evaluate

China has hinted at holding talks with India over its restrictions on export of rare earth materials, and said it is willing to enhance dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries to keep industrial supply chains stable. China’s recent restrictions on the exports of key metals caused widespread disruption in the manufacturing of automobiles and semiconductor chips in a host of countries, including India. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said ‘We are willing to enhance dialogue and cooperation with relevant countries and regions to jointly keep the stability of global industrial and supply chains’.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is in touch with the Chinese side to bring predictability in supply chain for trade, consistent with international practices. It said ‘We have been in touch with the Chinese side, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and general administration of customs in early April, as you would be aware, had announced the decision to implement export controls on certain rare earth-related items. We are in touch with the Chinese side, both here in Delhi as also in Beijing, to bring predictability in supply chain for trade, consistent with international practices’.

Earlier, Indian Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat met Chinese Vice Minister Sun Weidong and held talks on bilateral issues. They discussed ‘common concerns’ among others. After several months of a squeeze on rare earth metals over which China holds a monopoly, Beijing began clearing selective export licenses reportedly for the US as both countries held talks in London over the issues. Rare earths are a group of metals consisting of 17 elements. Though present in several counties, their extraction is costly and messy, causing massive amounts of pollution. According to the International Energy Agency, China accounts for 61 per cent of global mined rare earth production but controls 92 per cent of the global output.

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