China to toughen crackdown on smuggling of strategic minerals

BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities announced Saturday that they will further intensify a campaign to crack down on the smuggling of strategic minerals.

The announcement was made during a meeting held by the office of a national export control work coordination mechanism in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The meeting brought together multiple state organs such as the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Customs.

Since its launch, this campaign has taken a zero-tolerance approach to strategic mineral smuggling, with relevant authorities handling a series of related cases, according to the meeting.

However, tackling strategic mineral smuggling remains a severe challenge, with cases continuing to occur and becoming increasingly difficult to detect, the meeting noted. It urged relevant departments to maintain a stringent crackdown to prevent the illegal outflow of strategic minerals and related technologies.

While proceeding with the campaign, all relevant departments should work to establish a joint enforcement coordination center for dual-use item export control. Measures must be taken to prevent circumvention of export regulations by adding foreign end-users that evade national export controls to a restricted list.

Additionally, export companies will be guided in due diligence work to ensure that relevant items are not illegally used for military purposes, according to the meeting.