This is the first such indication from Beijing that it is taking concrete measures to reach a key promised outcome from a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in October

More than 2,400 mines - many illegal and unregulated - are releasing deadly chemicals such as cyanide and mercury into rivers across much of mainland Southeast Asia

According to some analysts, the West will still rely on China for 91% of its heavy rare earths needs by 2030, down only slightly from 99% in 2024

Trump also lavished praise on Japan’s newly-elected PM Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female leader who, in return, promised to nominate the US President for the Nobel Peace Prize

The US is racing to establish a rare earth supply chain separate from China following Beijing’s increasingly aggressive moves to restrict its exports of rare earths to the country

There are 17 rare earths that are vital materials in products ranging from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and military radars and exports of 12 of them are now restricted

Delays on export license applications began in September, before Beijing's move last week to expand controls over the critical minerals used in magnets, sources say

Analysts say investor mood remains fragile amid the recent round of trade uncertainty between China and the US

'We're going to have a lot of magnets in a pretty short period of time. In fact, we'll have so many we won't know what to do with them,' the US President said

From talks on resuming direct flights to a series of high-level bilateral visits, longtime rivals China and India are quietly and cautiously strengthening ties

'I am not SEEKING anything' Trump wrote in a social media post rejecting reports that he was looking to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

China's crackdown on the smuggling and trans-shipment of critical minerals hit exports of antimony and germanium in June even as rare earth magnet shipments jumped sharply thanks to a deal with Washington