BEIJING (Reuters) – China will seek export permits for certain graphite products from Dec. 1 to protect its national security, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday, as Beijing’s industrial dominance grows contested by foreign governments.

The world’s leading producer of graphite, used in particular in electric vehicle batteries, China alone represents 67% of the world’s supply of graphite in its natural form, according to data from the American Geological Survey.

It also refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite production into essential materials used for the anodes of electric vehicle batteries.

With the new regulations, Beijing will force exporters of certain graphite products, including those considered “highly sensitive”, to submit a permit application.

This is a similar measure to that taken in August for two metals used in the manufacture of semiconductors, gallium and germanium.

These restrictions, which have caused a drop in Chinese metal exports in recent months, come against a backdrop of increased pressure from foreign governments against Chinese companies for their industrial practices.

The European Union is, for example, considering customs duties on Chinese electric vehicles, believing that they benefit from unfair public aid.

Furthermore, the United States has put in place restrictions on Chinese companies’ access to American-made semiconductors, notably ordering the cessation of sales of cutting-edge chips intended for artificial intelligence (AI) produced by Nvidia.

Among the main countries sourcing graphite from China are Japan, India and South Korea, according to Chinese customs data.

(Reporting Siyi Liu, Amy Lv and Dominique Patton; Jean Terzian)

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