CHINA outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies today, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many products.

This comes ahead of a meeting later this month between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his United States counterpart Donald Trump.

The regulations announced by the Ministry of Commerce require foreign companies to get special approval to export items that contain even small traces of rare earths elements sourced from China.

Beijing also will impose permitting requirements on exports of technologies related to rare earths mining, smelting, recycling and magnet-making, it said.

China accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the world’s rare earths mining. It also controls roughly 90 per cent of global rare earths processing.

Access to such materials is a key point of contention in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

As Mr Trump has raised tariffs on imports of many products from China, Beijing has doubled down on controls on the strategically vital minerals, raising concerns over potential shortages for manufacturers in the US and elsewhere.

The critical minerals are used in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and automotives to consumer electronics, including laptops and phones.

The new restrictions are to “better safeguard national security” and to stop uses in “sensitive fields such as the military” that stem from rare earths processed or sourced from China or from its related technologies, the Commerce Ministry said.

It said some unnamed “overseas bodies and individuals” had transferred rare earths elements and technologies from China abroad for military or other sensitive uses which caused “significant damage” to its national security.

The new curbs were announced just weeks ahead of an expected meeting between the Chinese and US presidents in late October on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in South Korea.