China is currently considering restricting exports of technologies used for extracting minerals, which are critical to the growth of the global electric vehicle industry.
It is worth noting that a kind of technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington is escalating ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, which will take place in the present month. It is also worth mentioning that the United States has already limited shipments of advanced chips and equipment for manufacturing microcircuits of the appropriate category to China.
Beijing intends to add battery cathode technology to the list of controlled exports. The relevant information is contained in a notice published by the Commerce Ministry of China this week.
If the expansion of restrictions on external shipments is eventually approved by Beijing, a new round of its export controls will begin. This control extends to a variety of critical materials and technologies necessary for their production. It is worth noting that what is meant in this case is that it is crucial for making semiconductors and batteries for electric vehicles.
China dominates the global industry of materials such as gallium, a soft metal commonly used to produce compounds that can be used to make radio frequency chips for mobile phones and satellite communications, and lithium, which is ubiquitous in daily life because it is used to manufacture batteries for everything from smartphones and laptops to electric vehicles.
In 2023, McKinsey published a forecast according to which the global demand for lithium-ion batteries will grow sharply within 10 years.
As we have reported earlier, China Bans Export of Key Minerals to US.
