China maintains a narrow grip on rare ground, and costs at least one company “millions of euros”

BEIJING – Beijing still does not give foreign companies access to the rare land that is needed, according to the European Chamber of Commerce in China.

Eccc told reporters on Monday at least one member lost “millions of euros.”

The 25 -year -old business organization refused to share the name of the affected company, but it said that other members still have no clarity on a consistent process to reach minerals.

Rare land is a category of minerals that are decisive in a group of products from cars to semiconductors. China controls more than 69 % of the rare Earth mine production in 2024, and about half of the world’s reserves, according to American geological survey.

Beijing benefited from this control of commercial talks with the United States and other partners. Since late last year, China has It raised its restrictions Based on rare land exports, even demanding evidence that it will not be used for military purposes. China began issuing export licenses for one use after the truce of mid -May trade with the United States

A spokesman for the German auto industry company Volkswagen “The supply of parts that contain a rare stable land, and we are not facing any deficiency. Mardona is constantly working with subcontractors to obtain the necessary export licenses,” he said.

But ECCC said that after picking up the approvals in June and July, the members reported increasing challenges in obtaining export licenses. The business group also confirmed that licenses still do not guarantee steady access to rare land, which increases the uncertainty of companies.

Almost half of the rare land imports in the European Union He came from China Last year, Russia and Malaysia were followed, according to the bloc.

The increasing restrictions on access to the rare land are the last challenge of international companies that have been hunting in the midst of commercial tensions that include China.

Foreign business confidence in China has decreased since Covid-19, when the bodies of the epidemic disrupted the domestic economy, as it declined by real estate decline and excessive energy in the industrial sectors.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said last week that it had surveyed the members between May and June showed the confidence of companies in the next five years at the lowest new level. The study also found that nearly half of the respondents – the highest ever – had Transfer investments The plan for China to other regions, especially Southeast Asia.

European and American companies have to caution Rare loss It will strike in the third quarter, in addition to Disorders For production earlier this year.

ECCC said it plans to meet with European Union policymakers next week in Brussels to update them in the commercial situation. On Wednesday, the annual job paper, which included several recommendations for China, was issued on Wednesday, as the country is its next five -year plan.

The Chamber urged Beijing to consider ways to fix the radical causes of excessive production and give the private sector a greater role in the main industries such as health care as government entities tend to influence greater in China.

ECCC Jens Eskeund president this week told reporters that at the recent chamber meetings with the Ministry of Commerce, the conversation focused on reaching rare land.

Senior Chinese leaders are scheduled to meet in October to discuss the development goals from 2026 to 2030.

European companies will see this meeting closely, as China is the second largest commodity partner in the European Union, with a trade length of $ 732 billion in 2024.

If we look back in such plans, including “Made In China 2025”, “All these things we struggle (with them) at the present time, largely, are actually the result of politics options.” “So these plans are actually important … they definitely put the trend.”

Sam Merridhyth of CNBC contributed to this report.