China is tightening its grip on rare earth exports to maintain its dominance in the industry. Beijing has recently stepped up its efforts by demanding lists and passports of technical personnel with sensitive knowledge.
In the early stages of developing the rare earth industry, China took advantage of foreign experts to train workers and update advanced technology. However, over the years, the government has strictly closed off the technology and knowledge base, keeping it hidden from foreign interests.
Beijing demands list of technical personnel
China is launching a campaign to tighten control over its rare earths industry by requiring companies to submit detailed reports on their highly skilled personnel. In some cases, technical staff are being asked to hand over their passports.
China's Ministry of Commerce recently instructed rare earth companies to provide full data on their employees' expertise, education, research experience and personal information. The goal is to build a national registration system for personnel with rare earth know-how and prevent the leakage of business secrets abroad.
The requirement applies to all employees involved in processing raw ores and engineers who convert rare earths into high-performance magnets, which are essential to electric vehicles, drones, wind turbines and advanced defense technology.
Some employees have reportedly had to hand over their passports to their companies or local authorities, similar to the rule that applies to government officials and state-owned enterprise workers who need permission to travel abroad.
At the summer World Economic Forum in Tianjin, Premier Li Keqiang spoke out against weaponizing trade and called for global cooperation. But that rule doesn’t seem to apply to the rare earths industry.
China now dominates the global rare earth market, accounting for about 90% of the world's production of rare earth magnets used in high-tech and defense applications.
Tremors in global trade
A few months ago, China implemented a new licensing system for exporting rare earths and rare earth magnets, disrupting global supply chains and raising concerns among Western manufacturers.
Many companies in the United States and Europe, which rely heavily on Chinese exports, have reported delays and temporary production shutdowns due to difficulties in obtaining raw materials.
China’s low-cost advantage once gave it an edge over international rivals in the rare earth sector. But in today’s sensitive geopolitical climate, China has shifted to a strategy that prioritizes long-term technological advantage over short-term volume.
The process of refining rare earths is extremely complex technically, involving separating similar chemical elements from raw ore. Chinese scientists have developed proprietary, high-tech, closely guarded methods.
The focus on controlling key personnel reflects Beijing's concerns about economic espionage and strategic sabotage from abroad.
Last September, China’s Ministry of State Security announced that a citizen had been sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling information about rare earth reserves to an unidentified foreign entity. The ministry warned that foreign entities would “use all means to seize internal data,” and that the leak could hurt China’s standing internationally.
This concern is well-founded as China's dominance in this sector has become a major challenge for Western governments trying to reduce their dependence on Chinese supply chains.
The United States, the European Union, and Australia have launched projects to boost domestic rare earth mining, but progress has been slow. One key reason is a lack of technical expertise outside China—a gap Beijing is determined to maintain.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/trung-quoc-siet-chat-hiem-dat-anh-huong-crypto/
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