European Parliament Condemns China's Rare Earths Export Restrictions

The European Parliament has censured China over restrictions on rare earth exports, urging the EU to resist Beijing's moves to gain leverage. Ahead of an EU-China summit, lawmakers passed a motion criticizing China's actions as coercive, though non-binding. They recommend EU investment in domestic mining.

The European Parliament has taken a firm stance against China's export restrictions on rare earths, condemning the move as unjustified and coercive. This comes as rare earths are poised to be a major issue in the forthcoming EU-China summit.

In a decisive move, the motion was approved by a significant majority of EU lawmakers, though it remains non-binding. China, a major player in the rare earths market with its dominant production capacity, imposed these restrictions amid ongoing trade tensions with the US.

The European Parliament urged China to ease these trade hurdles and called on the EU to bolster its own mining and strategic stock policies to ensure future stability in the supply of these critical materials. China's Foreign Minister, meanwhile, attempted to allay concerns by referring to standard export controls.

(With inputs from agencies.)