Sources have disclosed that, in response to Japan's recent inappropriate actions, China is contemplating the introduction of targeted tightening measures for the export license review process concerning medium and heavy rare earth-related products. These measures are set to take effect on April 4, 2025. Previously, China had already announced its decision to impose export controls on seven categories of medium and heavy rare earth-related items, also starting from April 4, 2025.

On December 4 of the previous year, He Yadong, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, urged Japan to rectify its erroneous statements regarding Taiwan made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. He warned that necessary countermeasures would be implemented if Japan failed to do so.

According to an evaluation conducted by Japan's Nomura Research Institute, Japan is almost entirely dependent on China for its supply of heavy rare earths. Should China's export restrictions on rare earths to Japan persist for three months, Japan is projected to incur losses amounting to approximately 660 billion yen. This would lead to a 0.11% decline in both nominal and real annual GDP. If the restrictions were to continue for a full year, the losses would escalate to approximately 2.6 trillion yen, accompanied by a 0.43% reduction in both nominal and real annual GDP.