Overview

• Beijing now requires licenses for exporting rare-earth mining, smelting, processing and magnet-making technologies, with those technology curbs taking effect immediately.
• From December 1, foreign entities must secure approval to export items containing more than 0.1% China-sourced rare earths or produced using Chinese extraction, refining, magnet-making or recycling technology.
• Applications linked to military end users or entities on control lists will be rejected in principle, while proposed uses tied to advanced chips, memory and certain AI will undergo case-by-case review.
• Chinese nationals and organizations are barred from assisting overseas rare-earth extraction, processing or magnet manufacturing without government authorization.
• Officials cite national security risks as the rationale, with analysts warning of added compliance burdens, supply-chain uncertainty and intensified diversification efforts as the announcement lands weeks before a possible Xi–Trump meeting at APEC.