From National Law to Global Ambitions: China’s Rare Earth Regulation in Domestic and International Law
Abstract
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) underpin green, industrial, and defence technologies and are increasingly governed following security logics. This article traces the evolution of REE governance in China, articulating it in a four-stage periodisation: horizontal reciprocity, state-led transactionalism, securitisation, and then the current phase of neo-securitisation. It will show how Chinese environmental and mineral resource laws, and their interaction with international economic law, centralise production and relocate geopolitical rivalries into legal arenas that encompass WTO disputes to EU tariffs and international arbitrations.
Presentato: 29 Luglio 2025 | Accettato: 25 Novembre 2025 | Pubblicato 20 Maggio 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Mineral resources law • Rare Earths (REEs) • International law • Environmental law • Chinese law
Copyright © 2025 Valeria Fappani, Blanca Marabini San Martín. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/RIDAO/3035-5591/2025/01/007