The European Commission confirmed this Saturday, November 1, that Beijing’s decision to suspend controls on the export of rare earths and other strategic materials applies to the 27, following a meeting held the day before with a delegation from the Chinese executive.
“China confirmed that the suspension of export controls applies to the EU. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue contacts on improving the adoption of export control policies.”said the European Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, via social media.
The commissioner spoke after meetings held with a delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, between Thursday and Friday and in the context of concern that Chinese restrictions on key raw materials for sectors such as automobiles or renewable energies have generated in European industry.
Parallel to these high-level technical meetings in Brussels, Beijing announced on Thursday that it will suspend the application of control measures on the export of rare earths and other strategic materials for a year.adopted on October 9th.