China Restricts Foreign Travel of Tech Experts
On July 7, China took a significant step by preventing its rare earth and magnet experts from traveling abroad. This move is expected to impact Indian automobile companies, leaving them with only one option—importing entire magnet-based motors, which will increase vehicle production costs.
China is tightening control over its rare earth mineral supply chain, aiming to maintain dominance in rare earth processing and magnet manufacturing. This decision follows Foxconn's recent withdrawal of Chinese technicians and engineers from iPhone factories in India.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has asked domestic rare earth companies to submit a list of employees who possess deep expertise in complex rare earth processing and magnet production techniques. The aim is to ensure that these experts remain under scrutiny and do not travel abroad, thus preventing the leakage of strategically significant technologies in which China holds a global monopoly.
This restriction is likely to create a bottleneck for countries and companies relying on Chinese technical know-how and materials for high-performance electric motors and devices, particularly in the EV and electronics sectors.