Beijing is planning to tighten controls on the export of technology used in extracting minerals essential to the global electric vehicle (EV) industry, as its tech rivalry with Washington intensifies ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
China is also seeking to add battery cathode technology to its list of restricted exports, according to a notice released Thursday by the Commerce Ministry inviting public feedback. This would be in addition to proposed restrictions on technologies related to the production of lithium and gallium.
If implemented, these measures would represent the latest round of export controls targeting critical materials and the technologies used to produce them, which are vital for manufacturing semiconductors and EV batteries.
During a press briefing on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that China’s export controls are “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory.”
The announcement follows China’s recent ban on exporting key materials like gallium, germanium, and antimony to the US in retaliation for outgoing President Biden’s semiconductor export restrictions.
China dominates the global market for key materials like gallium, used in radio frequency chips for mobile phones and satellites, and lithium, essential for batteries in devices such as smartphones, laptops, and EVs.
Adam Webb, head of battery raw materials at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told Reuters that the proposed export controls aim to reinforce China’s “70% hold” on global lithium processing and secure supply for its domestic battery industry.
While an iPhone requires only a small amount of lithium, an average EV battery uses about eight kilograms (18 pounds), making restrictions on lithium extraction technology significant as demand for EVs rises. The International Energy Agency warns that global lithium supply will meet only 50% of demand by 2035.
McKinsey projected in 2023 that demand for lithium-ion batteries will surge, with global capacity rising from 700 gigawatt-hours in 2022 to 4,700 by 2030.
Lee noted that Chinese policymakers must weigh the global ambitions of domestic EV and battery giants, such as BYD and CATL, when considering restrictions, as they risk provoking Western retaliation.
Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry added 28 US entities, including defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defense, to its export control list—introduced in 2020 and modeled after the US “Entity List”—further escalating trade tensions.