EU and Chinese officials have agreed to meet in Brussels for "urgent" talks on China's export controls on rare earths, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has said after speaking to his Chinese counterpart.
"I appreciate today's constructive discussion during which we agreed to intensify contacts at all levels," Sefcovic said on Tuesday after a video call with China's Wang Wentao that lasted nearly two hours.
"I invited the Chinese authorities to come to Brussels in the coming days to find urgent solutions. Minister Wang Wentao has accepted this invitation," Sefcovic told reporters in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
The European Union says the Chinese restrictions have forced some of the bloc's companies to halt production and inflicted economic harm.
'Unjustified and harmful'
Sefcovic has called the export controls "unjustified and harmful".
Brussels has been coordinating with G7 partners on a response to China's curbs, but Sefcovic said the EU had "no interest in escalation".
"However, this situation cast a shadow over our relationship. Therefore, a prompt resolution is essential," Sefcovic said.
China, the world's leading producer of rare-earth minerals used to make magnets crucial to the automotive, electronics, and defence industries, announced new export controls on rare-earth technologies this month.
They widen limits on processing and manufacturing technologies and prohibit cooperation with foreign companies without prior government authorisation.
