Korea in tight spot as China tightens rare earth export controls ahead of APEC summit

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Korea in tight spot as China tightens rare earth export controls ahead of APEC summit

Published: 09 Oct. 2025, 18:09

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao speaks during a press conference on 'achievements in high-quality commerce development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period in Beijing on July 18. [EPA/YONHAP]

China has introduced new measures to tighten control over rare earth minerals and related technologies, which are crucial for the advancement of artificial intelligence, semiconductors and electric vehicles, ahead of the closely watched Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit at the end of this month.

The move will bar the transfer of rare earth-related technology, as well as document and expand the list of restricted rare earth minerals to include processed ones. The curb is seen as an effort to cement its dominance in global supply chains and to strengthen its leverage in diplomatic and tariff negotiations.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that rare earth materials will now require a dual-use export license — covering both military and civilian applications — before being shipped abroad.

“Rare-earth-related items are of a dual-use nature, having both civilian and military applications,” a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said. “Implementing export controls over such items is an internationally accepted practice. In April this year, the Chinese government implemented export controls on rare-earth items exported by Chinese organizations and individuals. Moreover, rare-earth-related technologies were already included in the export control list as early as 2001.”

The spokesperson added that the tighter rules are in response to authorities discovering that foreign organizations and individuals had transferred Chinese-origin rare earth materials abroad, where they were used in military and other sensitive sectors, posing a risk to China’s national security and interests.

The new controls cover samarium, dysprosium, gadolinium, terbium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium metals, along with samarium–cobalt, terbium–iron, dysprosium–iron and terbium–dysprosium–iron alloys, as well as dysprosium oxide and terbium oxide.

In addition, rare-earth permanent magnets and target materials manufactured overseas that contain, mix, or incorporate these elements are also subject to control. Items produced abroad using Chinese-origin technologies — including rare earth mining, refining and separation, metallurgy, magnetic material manufacturing, or secondary resource recovery — will likewise fall under regulation.

Beijing emphasized that export applications linked to foreign defense companies, including subsidiaries or branches with more than 50 percent ownership, will not be approved.

The latest restrictions also extend to semiconductor production and related equipment. Exports for the research, development or manufacture of logic chips of 14 nanometers or smaller, memory chips with 256 layers or more, and their production, testing or material equipment, as well as AI technologies with potential military applications, will be reviewed individually.

According to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, Korea relied on China for 95.1 percent of its rare-earth metals and 84.3 percent of its rare-earth compounds in 2023.

Following China’s April export curbs, Seoul turned to Vietnam to secure alternative supply lines. During an August bilateral summit, the two governments agreed to establish a Korea–Vietnam Critical Minerals Supply Chain Center by the end of the year to promote cooperation in the sourcing, processing and utilization of strategic materials.

LS Cable & System is currently developing facilities in Vietnam for mining and refining rare earths, to supply processed materials to Korea’s major automakers. China still commands an overwhelming 99.8 percent of the world’s supply of dysprosium, one of the key elements on the new export control list.

Meanwhile, major Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have already expanded their rare-earth import channels, seeking to mitigate geopolitical risks stemming from overreliance on a single source of critical materials.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]