Ministry of Commerce: the situation of cracking down on the illegal export of strategic minerals "still remains complex and severe"

On the afternoon of July 24th, the Ministry of Commerce held a routine press conference. A media outlet asked about the recent "Special Action to Combat Smuggling of Strategic Mineral Resources for Export" organized by the Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism. Could the Ministry of Commerce further introduce the relevant situation? In response, the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong stated that in order to crack down on the illegal export of strategic mineral resources, on July 19th, the Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism organized a special meeting in Nanning, Guangxi, with the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, General Administration of Customs, State Post Bureau, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, and other units, for the "Special Action to Combat Smuggling of Strategic Mineral Resources for Export." Previously on May 9th, the Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism had organized a field meeting in Shenzhen, Guangdong for the "Special Action to Combat Smuggling of Strategic Mineral Resources for Export." This progress meeting is a phase of summarizing and redeploying the achievements of the special action and pushing forward again. He Yadong stated that in the past two months, relevant departments have strengthened coordination and cooperation, showing zero tolerance and taking strong actions against illegal export of strategic mineral resources, investigating a number of cases of illegal export and apprehending a group of suspects in smuggling crimes. It can be said that a significant impact has been made, creating a deterrent effect. He Yadong further explained that during the special action, it was also discovered that a small number of lawbreakers attempted to evade supervision through various means, and the risks of illegal outflow of related technologies continued to rise, facing a complex and severe situation. In response to this, the meeting emphasized the need to maintain the momentum of the special action, continuously deepen and solidify it, always maintain a high-pressure crackdown on illegal export of strategic mineral resources, and safeguard national security and interests with the determination to continue. He Yadong stated that the meeting deployed the focus of the next phase of the special action and put forward a series of measures, including establishing a joint enforcement coordination center for dual-use item export control, promptly announcing a number of typical law enforcement and judicial cases, listing illegal foreign entities in the export control management list, formulating and releasing guidelines for the compliant export of strategic mineral resources, guiding and warning export enterprises to conduct due diligence to prevent related items from being used by military users or for military purposes, and so on.