China Responds to Questions on Economic and Trade Policy Measures

1. A reporter asked: On October 9, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement to implement export controls on related rare earth items. What are China’s considerations?

A: China has issued export control measures on rare earths and other related items. This is a legitimate move by the Chinese government to improve its own export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. The current world situation is turbulent and military conflicts occur from time to time. China has noticed that medium and heavy rare earth-related items have meaningful applications in the military field. China is a responsible major country and implements export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law. The purpose is to better safeguard world peace and regional stability and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation.

China’s export controls do not prohibit exports, and applications that comply with regulations will be permitted. Before the measures were announced, China had notified relevant countries and regions through the bilateral export control dialogue mechanism. China is willing to strengthen dialogue and exchanges on export control with other countries to better safeguard the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.

2. A reporter asked: We have noticed that the Ministry of commerce recently issued an announcement to strengthen export controls on rare earths and other related items. How will it be implemented in the future?

A: as a responsible major country,China has always firmly safeguarded its own national security and common international security,upheld a fair and reasonable principled stance,and implemented export control measures in a prudent and appropriate manner. China has fully assessed in advance the impact that the measures may have on the production and supply chain, and is convinced that the impact will be very limited. Before the measures were introduced, China had notified relevant countries and regions through the bilateral export control dialogue mechanism.

In the future, the Chinese government will conduct licensing reviews in accordance with laws and regulations, and grant licenses to applications that meet the regulations. At the same time, it will actively consider the request of general licenses, licence exemptions and other facilitation measures to effectively promote compliant trade. What I want to emphasize is that China’s export controls do not prohibit exports. as long as they are for civilian purposes and comply with export requirements,they can be approved,and relevant companies do not need to worry. The Chinese government will, as always, work with other countries to firmly safeguard world peace and stability in surrounding areas, and jointly ensure the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

3. A reporter asked: On October 10,Eastern Time,the United States announced that it would impose 100% tariffs on China in response to China’s export controls on rare earths and other related items,and would impose export controls on all key software. What is the Ministry of Commerce’s comment on this?

A: China has taken note of the relevant situation.On October 9, China issued export control measures on rare earths and other related items.This is a normal behavior of the chinese government to improve its own export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. As a responsible major country, China has always firmly safeguarded its own national security and common international security, upheld a fair and reasonable principled stance, and implemented export control measures in a prudent and appropriate manner.