China to get tough on rare metals theft

With the disclosure of several cases where foreign spies stole rare earth elements from China, the Ministry of State Security announced on Friday that it will take action to prevent and combat sabotage and theft activities targeting key mineral resources by foreign espionage agencies.

The ministry released details of the cases via its official WeChat account, showing that foreign espionage agencies and their agents have attempted to collaborate with domestic criminals to use delivery services to steal rare earth-related items over the past few years, posing a significant threat to national security.

"Since rare earth-related items have both military and civilian applications and are considered strategic national resources, China has adopted internationally recognized practices and implemented export controls on these items in accordance with the law," the ministry explained in the release.

In one disclosed case, a country that cannot independently produce or refine rare metals has been stockpiling them through various methods to secure a stable domestic supply. Investigations found that contractors from this country swapped packaging and forged non-China origin labels before transshipping the items back to their country.

The contractors also used various methods to illegally export China's rare earths and other controlled items, including false reporting of contents and components, misrepresenting product names, sending small quantities in multiple express shipments and switching transportation channels.

The ministry stated that once concrete evidence was confirmed, the national security authorities, along with relevant departments, took action in accordance with the law to cut off the illegal export channels, thus safeguarding China's resources and national security.

China currently ranks among the top countries in the world in terms of rare earth reserves, production, consumption and exports, the ministry noted, adding that some countries are highly concerned about China's supply of rare earth-related items and are employing various methods to steal them.

It pointed out that foreign spies primarily steal China's rare earth elements by misreporting product names. These items are concealed as non-controlled goods and smuggled out of the country through delivery channels. For instance, high-purity rare earths, such as dysprosium and terbium, were declared as low-value products like ferrous alloys, nickel powder or other ordinary goods to evade export controls.

Chinese authorities also found that foreign espionage agencies and their agents attempted to instruct domestic criminals to hide undeclared rare earth-related items within other properly declared goods or means of transportation. For example, rare earth powder was mixed with ceramic raw materials, poured into plastic molds or bottled water containers.

To address the problems, since the beginning of this year, China has strengthened its control over rare earth exports and taken strong measures to combat smuggling, according to the ministry.

Despite such high pressure, it said, some overseas entities still colluded with domestic criminals and continued to find new methods of exports smuggling in an attempt to evade crackdowns.

It emphasized that combating the smuggling and illegal export of strategic minerals has become an urgent and critical task, calling on all departments to focus on the strategic mineral sector, strengthen source control and form a joint effort to combat illegal activities.

The Ministry of Commerce has stated that China's implementation of export controls on relevant items reflects the responsible stance of the Chinese government as a major power.

On June 19, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce also said that China is accelerating the review of rare earth-related export license applications in accordance with the law and regulations. A certain number of compliant applications have already been approved, and the process for approving further compliant applications will be strengthened.