China has proposed establishing a “green channel” to ease the export of rare earths to the European Union, the commerce ministry said Saturday, after Beijing restricted their sale abroad.
Beijing has since April required licences to export these strategic materials from China, which accounts for more than 60 percent of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency.
The metals are used in a wide variety of products, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and there has been criticism from industries about the way China’s licences have been issued.
“Export control on rare earths and other items is an international practice,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
“China attaches great importance to Europe’s concerns and is willing to establish a green channel for eligible applications, fast track the examination and approval, and instruct the working level to maintain timely communication on this,” the ministry added.
The comments were attributed to China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, who met with EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on Tuesday.
During the bilateral talks, Wang said he hoped the bloc would “take reciprocal action, adopt effective measures to facilitate, safeguard, and promote compliant trade of high-tech products with China”, according to commerce ministry.
European officials and businesses have repeatedly criticised China’s export restrictions, which they argue have severely harmed Europe’s long-suffering industries.
Šefčovič said on Wednesday that he had told Wang that Beijing’s controls on rare earths and magnets had triggered an “alarming situation in the European car industry” and impacted producers of numerous household appliances such as washing machines.
The EU Chamber of Commerce in China, a lobby group, said on Friday that there had been “some improvement” in Beijing’s issuance of export licenses but warned that “this has still not been sufficient to prevent severe supply chain disruptions for many companies”.
The spat over export controls comes as EU and Chinese officials are preparing the ground for an EU-China summit next month, which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between Brussels and Beijing.
It also comes as EU and Chinese officials continue to negotiate over Brussels’ tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EVs that were introduced last year.
During their meeting Wang and Šefčovič also discussed the EV duties, which Brussels claims are necessary to protect EU firms from unfairly subsidised Chinese competitors.
Both sides are currently discussing the possibility of Beijing undertaking “price commitments”, or setting a minimum price for their EV exports in exchange for avoiding the tariffs.
“The negotiation on the price commitment of electric vehicles between China and Europe has entered the final stage, but both sides still need to make efforts,” the commerce ministry said.
