Economic Daily: Disrupting the Supply Chain: China is Not Related | Item | Supply Chain
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs issued a notice, deciding to implement export controls on gallium and germanium related items from August 1st. The US Department of Commerce claims to "firmly oppose" this, while some Western media outlets vigorously exaggerate that China's measures will cause damage to global supply chain stability. China's management measures for gallium and germanium related items are reasonable and legal, and have a positive effect on maintaining global supply chain stability. The attempt by the United States and the West to label China as a destroyer of the global supply chain is actually a case of thieves shouting and catching thieves.
Gallium is mostly used in the semiconductor and solar cell industries, while germanium is widely used in fields such as fiber optic communication, infrared optics, solar cells, and nuclear physics detection. Implementing export controls on gallium and germanium related items is an international practice, and major countries around the world generally implement controls on them. Faced with the increasingly complex international situation, the Chinese government implements export controls on gallium and germanium related items to ensure their legitimate use, with the aim of maintaining national security and better fulfilling international obligations. The relevant measures can be found in China's laws and regulations such as the Export Control Law, the Foreign Trade Law, and the Customs Law.
The United States and the West have portrayed China's reasonable and well founded actions as harmful to the world economy, concocting various baseless rumors, which inevitably raises doubts about its motives and objectives.
China has always been committed to maintaining global industrial and supply chain security and stability, and has always implemented fair, reasonable, and non discriminatory export control measures. The Chinese side's move is not to ban the export of gallium and germanium related items, but to carry out refined management of them. According to the Announcement on Implementing Export Control on Gallium and Germanium Related Items issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs, export operators should handle export licensing procedures in accordance with relevant regulations, submit end-user and end-use certificates, and provide introductions to importers and end-users. After examination and approval, the Ministry of Commerce shall issue a dual-use item and technology export license. This indicates that the Chinese side will make accurate judgments on the use of related items. As long as the use is reasonable and managed properly, there is no need to worry about restricted use and it will not affect the development of related industries.
As is well known, it is not China that causes instability in the global supply chain, but the United States and the West are the main culprits. In order to suppress and contain China's development, the United States has imposed unreasonable restrictions on China in various fields such as semiconductors, and has gathered or even coerced allied countries to jointly suppress China, seriously disrupting the stability of the global supply chain and industrial chain.
It should be pointed out that the fierce reaction of the United States and the West has objectively demonstrated that China has sufficient ability to counter external containment and suppression. Gallium, germanium, and related compounds play important roles in the global industrial system and are listed in strategic or key mineral catalogs by developed economies such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan. China is the world's largest producer of gallium and germanium, with over half of the gallium and germanium used by the United States imported from China. This fact also reminds the US that China plays an indispensable role in the global supply chain system, which has positive implications for maintaining global supply chain stability. The economies of China and the United States have deeply integrated and are closely connected. Any attempt to contain and suppress China is a harm to the global supply chain, destined to fail and will inevitably backfire on itself.