Beijing (Reuters) – China said on Friday that they want to cooperate more with other countries for controlling rare earth exports, shortages threatening to closure manufacturers of cars and semiconductors in Europe and India.
China imposed restrictions in early April, forcing exporters to obtain licenses from Beijing.
The country controls more than 90% of the global capacity for the treatment of magnets based on rare land used in all kinds of products, from cars to fighter aircraft, including household appliances.
If some licenses have been granted, notably to certain Volkswagen suppliers, Indian car manufacturers say they did not receive them and have to stop their production at the beginning of June.
“We are ready to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the field of export control with the countries and regions concerned and we remain determined to maintain the stability of world production and supply chains,” Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said about these controls on Friday.
The Chinese state media reported on Wednesday that the country could soften its restrictions on rare land exports for Chinese and European companies of semiconductors after meetings between industry and the Ministry of Commerce during which the issue of shortages was raised.
The New York Times reported at the start of the week that the United States had suspended certain sales of essential technologies for China, including parts for the public aircraft Comac, in response to the restrictions imposed by China on essential mineral exports.
(Colleen Howe, written by Liz Lee and Lewis Jackson; Noémie Naudin, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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