On July 19, 2025, the Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism organized a meeting in Nanning, Guangxi, involving units such as the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, General Administration of Customs, National Postal Administration, Supreme People’s Court, and Supreme People’s Procuratorate to advance the special operation against the smuggling and export of strategic minerals. The meeting reviewed and reported on initial progress, comprehensively analyzed the current situation regarding anti-smuggling efforts, and made further deployments and advancements for the special operation.
The meeting noted that since the launch of the special operation, relevant departments have thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, establishing task forces, acting swiftly, formulating plans, and clarifying tasks. With a “zero tolerance, heavy-handed” approach to the smuggling and export of strategic minerals, enforcement efforts have been intensified, leading to the investigation of several illegal export cases, the apprehension of numerous smuggling suspects, and phased achievements in the special operation.
The meeting emphasized that the situation regarding the fight against the smuggling and export of strategic minerals remains severe. A small number of unscrupulous individuals, driven by personal gain and colluding domestically and internationally, continue to engage in smuggling activities, with evasion tactics such as false declarations and third-country transshipments becoming increasingly covert. All relevant departments must “fulfill their responsibilities and guard their posts,” maintaining a high-pressure stance of strict investigation and crackdowns to prevent the illegal outflow of strategic minerals and related technologies.
The meeting called for relevant departments to continue deepening the special operation and further intensify enforcement efforts; study the establishment of a joint enforcement coordination center for export controls on dual-use items; investigate and handle major illegal and criminal cases swiftly and strictly in accordance with the law, and promptly publicize typical enforcement and judicial cases; resolutely prevent roundabout exports and include foreign end-users who evade national export control measures on the export control list; formulate and release guidelines for compliant export of strategic minerals; and guide and warn export enterprises to conduct thorough due diligence to prevent related items from being illegally used for military end-users or military purposes.
It is understood that strategic mineral resources refer to resources critical to the national economy, people’s livelihood, and national stability, holding a dominant position in the resource system. The National Mineral Resources Plan (2016–2020) lists 24 minerals in the strategic mineral catalog, including: energy minerals such as petroleum, natural gas, shale gas, coal, coalbed methane, and uranium; metallic minerals such as iron, chromium, copper, aluminum, gold, nickel, tungsten, tin, molybdenum, antimony, cobalt, lithium, rare earths, and zirconium; and non-metallic minerals such as phosphorus, potash, crystalline graphite, and fluorite.
