Europe itself entered the Chinese dragon's mouth – precisely the same as before in the case of gas voluntarily entered the mouth of the Russian bear.
On 9 October, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a number of restrictions on exports of uncommon earth metals (REE), any of which entered into force with immediate effect, and any will apply from 1 December. The restrictions cover both metals themselves and technologies related to their exploitation and further application in various industrial fields. And so – from now on, abroad companies will gotta have a peculiar export licence for their products if they contain even a tiny amount of uncommon earth elements originating in China. If these products can be utilized in the arms manufacture (so-called dual use), it will be impossible to get a licence. The transfer of technologies related to the extraction and processing of REE has besides been strengthened and Chinese companies will gotta get approval from the Ministry of Trade to cooperate with abroad counterparties, with 14 global companies being included on the list of “untrustworthy entities” with which cooperation will be excluded in advance. The sharpening will hit virtually the full global modern manufacture – armaments, electronics or renewable energy (wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, energy storage).
China's decision is, of course, the consequence of a trade war with the United States, but besides a competition component with Europe, which is completely dependent on external supplies of natural materials and products without which the modern economy cannot be imagined. specified industries as automotive (especially in the electromobility sector) and RES almost entirely "hang" on Chinese supplies and have now been placed against the wall – not to mention plans for reinforcements, so crucial (also for Poland) in the context of the Russian threat and building their own possible for deterrence.
China could afford specified a decision due to the fact that they are practically monopolistic on the marketplace of uncommon earth metals and their processing. It is China that has 48% (44 million tons) of planet REE resources that can be exploited, which translates into 69.2% of global production - and this includes the deposits exploited by Chinese companies abroad, mainly in Africa. By comparison, the second Brazil has 21 million tonnes and the 3rd India has 6.9 million tonnes. However, China has built a real power in the processing of these strategical natural materials – they account for 90% of their planet processing, having developed technologies for decades. This is simply a distance the remainder of the planet can't make up for in the foreseeable future. In pictorial terms, the Chinese dragon holds its paw on the treasures and has just decided to make its dominant position a use.
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China's hegemony in this key sector and its dangers has been mentioned for years, so it may be even more amazing that in practice almost nothing has been done about it – but for the US, which only has a seventh place in uncommon earth deposits (1.9 million tonnes), but at the same time they are the second miner. This is peculiarly evident on the example of Europe, which even entered the Chinese dragon into the mouth itself – precisely the same as before in the case of gas voluntarily entered the mouth of the Russian bear. Now China has given the European economy a shock akin to those of the COVID-19 pandemic and the breaking of supply chains and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, erstwhile Europe had to immediately go into forced recovery from Russian hydrocarbons. However, there is simply a fundamental difference – while Russian gas and oil could be replaced by supplies from another sources, Chinese uncommon earth metals could not be replaced. Even if Brazilian, Indian or Australian resources (fourth position – 5.7 million tonnes) are taken into account, the key issue of technology and know-how related to their processing remains, and long years are needed to make them.
This shows how utopian assumptions are based on a European economical strategy based on natural materials outsourcing. Let us remind that the improvement engine (mainly driven by Germany) was to be inexpensive Russian energy natural materials on the 1 hand, while on the another hand Chinese subcontracting, which was to translate into European leadership in the field of renewable energy and electromobility. The first pillar broke down with Russian aggression on Ukraine, while the second gradually sawed China – first taking on the function of leading RES maker and electrical cars, now radically tightening the tap with uncommon earth metals. But it's not over. For example, the European pharmaceutical manufacture is dependent on imports of active substances (API) from China, which are the planet leader in their production (also as regards intermediates) – and if the Chinese dragon wants to save the planet with another pandemic, then let providence take care of us all.
