Chinese media reported that China's National Security Ministry announced on July 18 that it had discovered foreign spiel activities aimed at seizing rare earths - an essential resource in the defense and high-tech industries.
Accordingly, foreign intelligence agencies and their spies have colluded with "domestic law violators" to steal items related to rare earths from China, posing a serious threat to China's national security.
China's National Security Ministry also said that an unnamed country has deliberately avoided export restrictions by forging trademarks, defaming information and transiting goods to third countries.
China has added many rare earth elements and related magnetes to the export restrictions list since early April, in response to US tariffs. This move disrupts the global supply chain, which is very important for electric vehicles, robots and the defense industry. Several Chinese automakers have been forced to temporarily suspend production due to lack of raw materials.
However, China's rare earth exports in June increased by 32% compared to the previous month. This increase could be a sign that recent agreements reached between Beijing and Washington have contributed to the opening of supply. Nvidia's resumption of plans to sell H20 AI chips in China is also part of negotiations surrounding rare earths.
