China Tightens Export Controls on Strategic Materials Amid Iran Tensions: Insiders

Beijing has increased restrictions on drones, rare earths, and fuel exports in steps that could indirectly benefit Iran, experts say.
China Tightens Export Controls on Strategic Materials Amid Iran Tensions: Insiders
The Shanghai Gaoqiao Company Refinery in Shanghai on March 22, 2018. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
Bill Pan
Bill Pan
Reporter
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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is slashing exports of oil products and other materials in what insiders describe as akin to “wartime measures” and potentially providing indirect support to Iran.

A source in China’s foreign trade sector familiar with import-export policy told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on March 6, using the pseudonym Huang Juguang out of fear of reprisal, that amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Beijing has ordered relevant domestic enterprises to tighten export controls on strategic materials, including tactical drones, rare earth minerals, and refined petroleum products.