Japan urges China to ease export curbs on critical minerals

The Mainichi

10-07-2025

KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) -- Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya urged his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday to ease Beijing's export restrictions on critical minerals, including rare earth elements used in semiconductors, expressing "strong concern" over the negative impact of the curbs on Japanese firms.
Iwaya, who met with Wang on the fringes of regional gatherings in Malaysia, also called on China to remove the remaining import ban on Japanese food items imposed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
The talks followed the lifting in late June of Beijing's blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, which Tokyo had repeatedly called for since it was imposed in 2023 in response to the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Even after removing the seafood ban, China continues to restrict food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures including Fukushima and Tokyo.
Iwaya and Wang also discussed steps to resume China's imports of Japanese beef, suspended since 2001 due to an outbreak of mad cow disease, by putting into force a bilateral accord on animal health and quarantine measures at an early date, the ministry said.
China, which mines about 70 percent of the world's rare earths used in the production of smartphones, personal computers and vehicles, has tightened its control over the materials as part of retaliatory measures in a tit-for-tat tariff war with the United States.
Japanese businesses have complained about the slow approval of rare-earth export licenses. Wang told Iwaya that China will meet Japanese companies' "normal demand" for critical minerals if they observe Chinese regulations and follow necessary procedures, according to the ministry.
During the talks, Iwaya and Wang, who last met in Tokyo in March, affirmed the need to promote stable ties.
The Japanese minister said he welcomes the "progress on some contentious issues" made by the two Asian neighbors and hopes further bilateral cooperation will advance a "strategic and mutually beneficial" relationship.
"Amid major changes in the international situation, Japan and China, which share responsibilities to the international community, are expected to deepen communication and fulfill their respective roles," Iwaya said.
Wang called on Japan to have "an objective and correct understanding of China" and "adhere to a positive and rational policy" toward its neighbor, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
On the security front, Iwaya aired his "serious concern" over recent Chinese military and coast guard activities near Japan including the expanded operations of aircraft carriers in nearby waters.
The activities also included the intrusion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese helicopter near the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in May. In June, a Chinese military aircraft flew close to a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane over international waters in the Pacific.
On Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, Iwaya warned China against conducting further large-scale military drills near the self-ruled island, stressing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The Japanese minister also showed concern over Beijing's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, where it has been engaged in territorial disputes with neighboring countries, the Japanese ministry said.