The Chinese government has been taking new steps to secure its rare earth logistics secrets.
According to a report that emerged in the Wall Street Journal this week, the nation’s Ministry of Commerce has been demanding that domestic companies supply lists of their technical staff to the department. Details about their specific expertise, education and roles have been requested.
To curb national security fears, the ministry has even been seizing passport of employees with sensitive information about rare earth processing technologies and production processes. This draconian measure aims to stop them from collaborating with the Americans or other foreign influences.
Domestic trade secrets regarding the manner that raw rare earth concentrates are converted into magnets are of particular concern for officials. China banned the export of rare earth element processing and extraction tech in 2023 and is now banning freedom of travel for nationals with sensitive know-how in certain cases.
“Rare earth knowledge is now treated like a national weapon,” commented one X user. “And it makes sense: whoever controls these materials controls the future of energy, AI, and defence.”
Rare earth magnets produced by China, a nation with a monopoly on their supply chain, are utilized worldwide for everything from electric vehicles and wind turbines to state-of-the-art weapons systems, medical devices and smartphones.
Read more: Trump boasts that rare earths supply deal with Chinese is ‘DONE’
China holds the cards at global poker table
The Chinese currently control about 65 per cent of the world’s rare earths production and 90 per cent of global refining. For rare earth magnets specifically, Beijing oversees about 90 per cent of international production.
Since the 1980s, the global superpower has harnessed heavy subsidies from the government and cheap labour to maintain dominance over competitors with little concern for environmental standards. China has thousands more patents on applicable tech than any other country and a plethora of experiential knowledge in comparison to the rest of the world.
The nation enhanced its foothold even more in March when geologists discovered a massive rare earths deposit in the Yunnan province. It is estimated to hold over 1 million tonnes of medium and heavy rare earth-bearing resources.
The following month, China implemented strict export controls on seven rare earth elements: samarium, yttrium, gadolinium, scandium, terbium and dysprosium.
Chinese diplomats have significant leverage over Washington as trade war tensions and negotiations persist.
Read more: China further solidifies rare earths dominance with major deposit discovery
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